Swarm-bots to the Rescue


[ Abstract ] [ Video ] [ Contact ]


  Abstract


We explore the problem of resource allocation in a system made up of autonomous agents that can either carry out tasks individually or, when necessary, cooperate by forming physical connections with each other. We consider a group transport scenario that involves transporting broken robots to a repair zone. Some broken robots can be transported by an individual `rescue' robot, whereas other broken robots are heavier and therefore require the rescue robots to self-assemble into a larger and stronger composite entity. We present a distributed controller that solves this task and furthermore succeeds in efficiently allocating resources despite using only local sensing and communication. We conduct a series of experiments with real robots to test the properties of our controller. The experiments show that our system is able to cope autonomously with a range of different problems. It particular, it can i) transport separate broken robots in parallel, ii) trigger self-assembly into composite entities when necessary to overcome the physical limitations of individual agents, iii) efficiently allocate resources and iv) resolve deadlock situations.



  Video



Two s-bots rescue two broken s-bots (h264 / wmv). The system successfully allocates a single rescue robot to each of the broken robots and that the broken robots are transported in parallel to the repair zone. These experiment show that, when possible, the system correctly `chooses' parallel execution (the incorrect choice would be for two rescue robots to assemble to the same broken robot). This is footage from one of the experimental trials described in our paper.

Two s-bots rescue a single broken robot consisting of a two s-bot swarm-bot that is too heavy for a single rescue s-bot to transport alone (h264 / wmv). The system successfully allocates both rescue robots to transport the broken swarm-bot, and the broken swarm-bot is successfully transported to the repair zone. This is footage from one of the experimental trials described in our paper.

Two s-bots rescue a single broken robot consisting of a two s-bot swarm-bot that is too heavy for a single rescue s-bot to transport alone (h264 / wmv). The system autonomously tries different connection topologies to transport the broken swarm-bot to the repair zone, until a successful one is found. This is footage from one of the experimental trials described in our paper.

The system only allocates one s-bot to the task of transporting the broken s-bot, leaving the other rescuing s-bot free (h264 / wmv). This is footage from one of the experimental trials described in our paper.

A single rescuing s-bot and two broken robotic entities: a single broken s-bot and a broken 2-s-bot swarm-bot (h264 / wmv). We initially `break' the 2-s-bot swarm-bot (i.e., light it up in red), and allow the rescuing s-bot to find the swarm-bot, attempt to move it, and call for help. We then `break' the single s-bot entity. The system resolves the deadlock, and carries out the only possible task for the available rescuing s-bots - rescuing the broken single s-bot entity. This is footage from one of the experimental trials described in our paper.




  Contact


Webpages:

Swarm-bots: www.swarm-bots.org
Swarmanoid: www.swarmanoid.org
Rehan's homepage: http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~rogrady
Carlo's homepage: http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~cpinciroli
Roderich's homepage: http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~rgross
Anders' homepage: http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~alyhne
Marco's homepage: http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~mdorigo

Address:

IRIDIA - ULB
50 Avenue F. Roosevelt - CP 194/9
1050 Bruxelles
Belgium