Achieving tasks with multiple robots will require a control system that is both simple and scalable as the number of robots increases. Collective behavior as demonstrated by social insects is a form of decentralized control that may prove useful in controlling multiple robots. Nature's several examples of collective behavior have motivated our approach to controlling a multiple robot system using a group behavior. Our mechanisms, used to invoke the group behavior, allow the system of robots to perform tasks without centralized control or explicit communication. We have constructed a system of five mobile robots capable of achieving simple collective tasks to verify the results obtained in simulation. The results suggest that decentralized control without explicit communication can be used to perform cooperative tasks requiring a collective behavior.
Arkin, R.C. (1992). Cooperation without communication: Multiagent schemabased robot navigation. Journal of Robotic Systems, 9(3), 351-364.
2.
Arkin, R.C., Balch, T., & Nitz, E. (1993). Communication of behavioral state in multi-agent retrieval tasks. In Proceedings of the 1993 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 3. Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society Press.
3.
Armstrong, W., Dwelly, A., Liang, J., Lin, D., & Reynolds, S. (1991). Learning and generalization in adaptive logic networks, in artificial neural networks. In T. Kohonen, K. Makisara, O. Simula, & J. Kangas (Eds.), Proceedings of the 1991 International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks. NY: Elsevier Science Publishing Co.
4.
Asama, H., Habib, M.K., Endo, I., Ozaki, K., Matsumoto, A., & Ishida, Y. (1991). Functional distribution among multiple mobile robots in an autonomous and decentralized robot system. In Proceedings of the 1991 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society Press.
5.
Beni, G., & Wang, J. (1991). Theoretical problems for the realization of distributed robotic systems. In Proceedings of the 1991 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society Press.
6.
Braitenberg, V. (1984). Vehicles: Experiments in synthetic psychology . Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
7.
Brooks, R.A. (1986). A robust layered control system for a mobile robot . IEEE Journal of Robotics and Automation, RA-2(1), 14-23.
8.
Brooks, R.A. (1990). Challenges for complete creature architectures . In J.-A. Meyer & S. W Wilson (Eds.), First International Conference on Simulation of Adaptive Behavior. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
9.
Brooks, R.A., & Flynn, A.M. (1989). Fast, cheap and out of control. MIT Artificial Ingelligence Lab memo 1182.
10.
Brooks, R.A., Maes, P., Mataric, M.J., & More, G. (1990). Lunar base construction robots. In Proceedings of the 1990 IEEE International Workshop on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS).
11.
Caloud, P., Choi, W., Latombe, J.-C., Le Pape, C., & Yim, M. (1990). Indoor automation with many mobile robots. In Proceedings of the 1990 IEEE International Workshop on Intelligent Robots and Systems. Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society Press.
12.
Dario, P., Ribechini, F., Genovese, V., & Sandini, G. (1991). Instinctive behaviors and personalities in societies of cellular robots. In 1991 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation
13.
Deneubourg, J-L., Goss, S., Franks, N., Sendova-Franks, A., Detrain, C., & Chretien, L. (1990). The dynamics of collective sorting robot-like ants and ant-like robots. In J.-A. Meyer & S. W Wilson (Eds.), First International Conference on Simulation of Adaptive Behavior. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
14.
Deneubourg, J-L., & Goss, S. (1989). Collective patterns and decision making. Ethology, Ecology and Evolution, 1, 295-311.
15.
Doty, K.L., & Van Aken, R.E. (1993). Swarm robot materials handling paradigm for a manufacturing workcell. In Proceedings of the 1993 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation , (Vol. 1). Los Alamitos, CA : IEEE Computer Society Press.
16.
Franks, N.R. (1986). Teams in social insects: Group retrieval of prey by army ants. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 18, 425-429.
17.
Franks, N.R. (1989). Army ants: A collective intelligence. American Scientist, 77, 139-145.
18.
Genovese, V., Dario, P., Magni, R., & Odetti, L. (1992). Self-organizing behavior and swarm intelligence in a pack of mobile miniature robots in search of pollutants. In Proceedings of the 1992 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems
19.
Goss, S., & Deneubourg, J. -L. (1991). Harvesting by a group of robots. In Proceedings of the First European Conference on Artificial Life.
20.
Hangartner, W. (1969). Carbon dioxide, a releaser for digging behavior in solenopis geminata. Psyche, 76, 58-67.
21.
Kube, C.R., & Zhang, H. (1992). Collective robotic intelligence. In J.-A. Meyer, H. Roitblat , & S. Wilson (Eds.), Second International Conference on Simulation of Adaptive Behavior . Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
22.
Kube, C.R., Zhang, H., & Wang, X. (1993). Controlling collective tasks with an ALN. In Proceedings of the 1993 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.
23.
Lindauer, M. (1952). Ein beitrag zur frage der arbeitsteilung im bienenstaat . Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Physiologie, 34(4), 299-345.
24.
Lindauer, M., & Martin, H. (1963). Über die orientierung der biene im duftfeld. Naturwissenschaften, 50(15), 509-514.
25.
Mataric, M.J. (1992). Minimizing complexity in controlling a mobile robot population. In Proceedings of the 1992 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society Press.
26.
Moser, J.C. (1970). Pheromones of social insects. In D. Wood, R. Silverstein, & M. Nakajima (Eds.), Control of insect behavior by natural products. New York: Academic Press.
27.
Noreils, F.R. (1992). Multi-robot coordination for battlefield strategies . In Proceedings of the 1992 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.
28.
Oster, G.F., & Wilson, E.O. (1978). Caste and ecology in social insects. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
29.
Pasteels, J.M., Deneubourg, J., & Goss, S. (1987). Self-organization mechanisms in ant societies: Trail recruitment to newly discovered food sources. In J. M. Pasteels & J. Deneubourg (Eds.), From individual to collective behavior in social insects. Basel: Birkhäuser Verlag .
30.
Riken. (1992). International Symposium on Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems, Saitama , Japan.
31.
Seeley, T.D., Camazine, S., & Sneyd, J. (1991). Collective decision-making in honey bees: How colonies choose among nectar sources. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 28, 277-290.
32.
Singh, K., & Fujimura, K. (1993). Map making by cooperating mobile robots. In Proceedings of the 1993 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Vol. 2). Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society Press.
33.
Steels, L. (1990). Cooperation between distributed agents through self-organisation. In Y. Demazeau & J.-P Muller (Eds.), Decentralized A.IAmsterdam: North-Holland.
34.
Stilwell, D.J., & Bay, J.S. (1993). Toward the development of a material transport system using swarms of ant-like robots. In 1993 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Vol. 1).
35.
Stuart, A.M. (1967). Alarm, defense, and construction behavior relationships in termites (isoptera). Science, 156, 1123-1125.
36.
Stuart, A.M. (1969). Social behavior and communication. Biology of Termites, 1, 193-232.
37.
Sudd, J. (1963). How insects work in groups. Discovery , 6, 15-19.
38.
Taipale, T., & Shigeoki, H. (1992). A comparative study of multi-robot systems. Bulletin of the Electrotechnical Laboratory, 56(8), 892-922.
39.
Tatsue, Y. (1993). Worldwide research and development of micromachines . (Tech. Rep.). Micromachine Center.
40.
Theraulaz, G., Goss, S., Gervet, J., & Deneubourg, J-L. (1990). Task differentiation in polistes wasp colonies: A model for self-organizing groups of robots. In J.-A. Meyer & S. W Wilson (Eds.), First International Conference on Simulation of Adaptive Behavior. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
41.
Wang, P.K.C. (1991). Navigation strategies for multiple autonomous mobile robots moving in formation. Journal of Robotic Systems , 8(2), 177-195.
42.
Wehner, R. (1987). Matched filters—neural models of the external world. Journal of Comparative Physiology A, 161, 511-531.
43.
Wilson, E.O. (1971). The Insect Societies. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press/Harvard University Press.
44.
Wilson, E.O., Durlach, N.I., & Roth, L.M. (1958). Chemical releasers of necrophoric behavior in ants. Psyche, 65(4), 108-114.
45.
Wilson, E.O., & Hölldobler, B. (1990). The ants. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press/ Harvard University Press.
46.
Wilson, S.W. (1990). The animat path to AI. In J.-A. Meyer & S. W Wilson (Eds.), First International Conference on Simulation of Adaptive Behavior. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
47.
Yuta, S., & Premvuti, S. (1991). Consideration on cooperation of multiple autonomous mobile robots. In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.
48.
Zeil, J., Nalbach, G., & Nalbach, H.O. (1986). Eyes, eye stalks and the visual world of semi-terrestrial crabs. Journal of Comparative Physiology, A, 159, 801-811.
