Core Concepts
Developing a resilient source-seeking algorithm for robot swarms to locate a signal source efficiently.
Abstract
The content introduces a solution for locating the source of an unknown scalar field using a swarm of mobile robots. It focuses on the resilience of the swarm, ensuring functionality even with missing or misplaced individuals. The algorithm calculates an ascending direction to guide the robot swarm to the source, adapting to different formations and unexpected environments. The analysis includes the properties of the ascending direction, its sensitivity, and the application to robot swarms. The study validates the approach numerically with hundreds of robots and discusses the potential applications in environmental monitoring, search & rescue, and precision agriculture operations.
I. Introduction
- Source seeking in swarm robotics is crucial for various applications.
- Robot swarms offer high resilience and functionality in challenging conditions.
II. Preliminaries and Problem Formulation
- Defines the team of robots and the scalar field signal.
- Formulates the source-seeking problem with control actions.
III. The Ascending Direction
- Calculates the ascending direction for the swarm to approach the source.
- Analyzes the sensitivity of the ascending direction concerning the swarm shape.
IV. Source Seeking with Single-Integrator Robots
- Discusses how the calculated direction guides the robot swarm effectively.
- Theorem presented to show the effectiveness of the algorithm.
V. Numerical Simulation
- Shows a numerical simulation of a robot swarm seeking a signal source.
- Demonstrates the resilience of the swarm in challenging conditions.
VI. Conclusions and Future Work
- Concludes the study on resilient source seeking with robot swarms.
- Discusses future work on distributed computation and more restrictive agent dynamics.
Stats
Unlike the circle, the ascending direction can be extended significantly for any generic deployment.
The algorithm guarantees an ascending direction to guide the robot swarm to the source.
The swarm maneuvers between obstacles by morphing its shape to reach the source.
Only 80 robots out of 250 made it to the source due to random robot failures.
Quotes
"The grand challenges of science robotics," Science robotics, vol. 3, no. 14, p. eaar7650, 2018.
"Swarm robotics: a review from the swarm engineering perspective," Swarm Intelligence, vol. 7, pp. 1–41, 2013.