Comparing coordination schemes for miniature robotic swarms: A case study in boundary coverage of regular structures

Nicolaus Correll, Alcherio Martinoli, Samuel Rutishauser
Springer-Verlag New York, Ms Ingrid Cunningham, 175 Fifth Ave, New York, Ny 10010 Usa, 2008
Conference paper

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Nicolaus Correll, Alcherio Martinoli, Samuel Rutishauser
Springer-Verlag New York, Ms Ingrid Cunningham, 175 Fifth Ave, New York, Ny 10010 Usa, 2008
Conference paper

Abstract

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https://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/160993?ln=en

About this result

Related concepts (7)

Related concepts

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Related publications

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Swarm robotics is an approach to the coordination of multiple robots as a system which consist of large numbers of mostly simple physical robots. ″In a robot swarm, the collective behavior of the r

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In computer science and operations research, a genetic algorithm (GA) is a metaheuristic inspired by the process of natural selection that belongs to the larger class of evolutionary algorithms (EA)

Comparing Coordination Schemes for Miniature Robotic Swarms: A Case Study in Boundary Coverage of Regular Structures

Nicolaus Correll, Alcherio Martinoli, Samuel Rutishauser

We consider boundary coverage of a regular structure by a swarm of miniature robots, and compare a suite of three fully distributed coordination algorithms experimentally. All algorithms rely on boundary coverage by reactive control, whereas coordination of the robots high-level behavior is fundamentally different: random, self-organized, and deliberative with reactive elements. The self-organized coordination algorithm was designed using macroscopic probabilistic models that lead to analytical expressions for the algorithm's mean performance. We contrast this approach with a provably complete, near optimal coverage algorithm, which is due to its assumption (noise-less sensors and actuators) infeasible on a real miniature robotic platform, but is considered to yield best-possible policies for an individual robot. Experimental results with swarms of up to 30 robots show that self-organization significantly improves coverage performance with increasing swarm size. We also observe that enforcing a provably complete policy on a miniature robot with limited hardware capabilities is highly sub-optimal as there is a trade-off between coverage throughput and time spent for localization and navigation.

2006

Towards Multi-Robot Inspection of Industrial Machinery - From Distributed Coverage Algorithms to Experiments with Miniature Robotic Swarms

Nicolaus Correll, Alcherio Martinoli

Inspection of aircraft and power generation machinery using a swarm of miniature robots is a promising application both from an intellectual and a commercial perspective. Our research is motivated by a case study concerned with the inspection of a jet turbine engine by a swarm of miniature robots. This article summarizes our efforts that include multi-robot path planning, modeling of self-organized robotic systems, and implementation of proof-of-concept experiments with real miniature robots. While other research tackles challenges that arise from moving within 3D structured environments at the level of the individual robotic node, the emphasis of our work is on explicitly incorporating the potential limitations of the individual robotic platform in terms of sensor and actuator noise into the modeling and design process of collaborative inspection systems. We highlight difficulties and further challenges on the (lengthy) path towards truly autonomous parallel robotic inspection of complex engineered structures.

2009

Modeling Self-Organized Aggregation in a Swarm of Miniature Robots

Nicolaus Correll, Alcherio Martinoli

We model the dynamics of self-organized robot aggregation inspired by a study on aggregation of gregarious arthropods. In swarms of German cockroaches, aggregation into clusters emerges solely from local interactions between the individuals, whereas the probabilities to join or leave a cluster are a function of the cluster size. Rather than explicitly modeling the spatial distribution of robots in the environment, we propose a population dynamics model that keeps track of the number of robots in clusters of specific size. The model is able to quantitatively and qualitatively predict the dynamics observed in extensive realistic simulation. In particular, we show both by modeling and simulation that the emergence of a giant component requires a minimal communication distance between individuals, whereas the robots remain scattered in the environment otherwise.

2007