This paper presents control and coordination algorithms for groups of vehicles. The focus is on autonomous vehicle networks performing distributed sensing tasks where each vehicle plays the role of a mobile tunable sensor. The paper proposes gradient descent algorithms for a class of utility functions which encode optimal coverage and sensing policies. The resulting closed-loop behavior is adaptive, distributed, asynchronous, and verifiably correct.

Coverage control for mobile sensing networks

Swarm robotics is an approach to collective robotics that takes inspiration from the self-organized behaviors of social animals. Through simple rules and local interactions, swarm robotics aims at designing robust, scalable, and flexible collective behaviors for the coordination of large numbers of robots. In this paper, we analyze the literature from the point of view of swarm engineering: we focus mainly on ideas and concepts that contribute to the advancement of swarm robotics as an engineering field and that could be relevant to tackle real-world applications. Swarm engineering is an emerging discipline that aims at defining systematic and well founded procedures for modeling, designing, realizing, verifying, validating, operating, and maintaining a swarm robotics system. We propose two taxonomies: in the first taxonomy, we classify works that deal with design and analysis methods; in the second taxonomy, we classify works according to the collective behavior studied. We conclude with a discussion of the current limits of swarm robotics as an engineering discipline and with suggestions for future research directions.

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Swarm robotics: a review from the swarm engineering perspective

Recent advances in technology are delivering robots of reduced size and cost. A natural outgrowth of these advances are systems comprised of large numbers of robots that collaborate autonomously in diverse applications. Research on effective autonomous control of such systems, commonly called swarms, has increased dramatically in recent years and received attention from many domains, such as bioinspired robotics and control theory. These kinds of distributed systems present novel challenges for the effective integration of human supervisors, operators, and teammates that are only beginning to be addressed. This paper is the first survey of human–swarm interaction (HSI) and identifies the core concepts needed to design a human–swarm system. We first present the basics of swarm robotics. Then, we introduce HSI from the perspective of a human operator by discussing the cognitive complexity of solving tasks with swarm systems. Next, we introduce the interface between swarm and operator and identify challenges and solutions relating to human–swarm communication, state estimation and visualization, and human control of swarms. For the latter, we develop a taxonomy of control methods that enable operators to control swarms effectively. Finally, we synthesize the results to highlight remaining challenges, unanswered questions, and open problems for HSI, as well as how to address them in future works.

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Human Interaction With Robot Swarms: A Survey

Children have participated in the design of new technologies intended for children using diverse methods, in differing contexts, with varying degrees of involvement. This participation can be characterized as involving children as users, testers, informants, or design partners. Only relatively recently have researchers around the world begun to work more substantively with children to design technologies for children. Methods and Techniques for Involving Children in the Design of New Technology for Children synthesizes prior work involving children as informants and design partners, and describes the emergence of participatory design methods and techniques for children. It considers the various roles children have played in the design process, with a focus on those that integrally involve children throughout the process. It summarizes and provides a pragmatic foundation for researchers and practitioners to use several methods and techniques for designing technologies with and for children. It relates the techniques to the design goals they help fulfil and concludes with a consideration of working with children in technology design processes as we move into the future.

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Methods and Techniques for Involving Children in the Design of New Technology for Children

Search and rescue (SAR) operations can take significant advantage from supporting autonomous or teleoperated robots and multi-robot systems. These can aid in mapping and situational assessment, monitoring and surveillance, establishing communication networks, or searching for victims. This paper provides a review of multi-robot systems supporting SAR operations, with system-level considerations and focusing on the algorithmic perspectives for multi-robot coordination and perception. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first survey paper to cover (i) heterogeneous SAR robots in different environments, (ii) active perception in multi-robot systems, while (iii) giving two complementary points of view from the multi-agent perception and control perspectives. We also discuss the most significant open research questions: shared autonomy, sim-to-real transferability of existing methods, awareness of victims’ conditions, coordination and interoperability in heterogeneous multi-robot systems, and active perception. The different topics in the survey are put in the context of the different challenges and constraints that various types of robots (ground, aerial, surface, or underwater) encounter in different SAR environments (maritime, urban, wilderness, or other post-disaster scenarios). The objective of this survey is to serve as an entry point to the various aspects of multi-robot SAR systems to researchers in both the machine learning and control fields by giving a global overview of the main approaches being taken in the SAR robotics area.

Collaborative Multi-Robot Search and Rescue: Planning, Coordination, Perception, and Active Vision

Emergencies in industrial warehouses are a major concern for fire-fighters. The large dimensions, together with the development of dense smoke that drastically reduces visibility, represent major c...

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A Robot Swarm Assisting a Human Fire-Fighter

In a variety of emergency settings robot assistance has been identified as highly valuable, providing remote, and thus safe, access and operation. There are many different forms of human-robot interactions, allowing a team of humans and robots to take advantage of skills of each team member. A relatively new area of research considers interactions between human and a team of robots performing as a swarm. This work is concerned with the interactive use of autonomous robots in fire emergency settings. In particular, we consider a swarm of robots that are capable of supporting and enhancing fire fighting operations co-operatively and we investigate how firefighters in the field work with such a swarm. This paper outlines some of the key characteristics of this emergency setting. It discusses possible forms of interactions with swarm robotics being examined in the GUARDIANS project. The paper addresses the use of assistive swarm robotics to support firefighters with navigation and search operations. It reports on existing firefighters operations and how human-swarm interactions are to be used during such operations. The design approaches for human-swarm interaction are described and the preliminary work in the area are outlined. The paper ends by linking current expertise with common features of emergency related interaction design.

Analysis and design of human-robot swarm interaction in firefighting

Over the years a consensus has developed that involving users directly in the software development process can lead to more useful and usable systems. This has found its clearest expression in the Participatory Design (PD) movement. However, a limitation of PD is that it has primarily focused on project stakeholders being co-located, whereas in recent years we are starting to see software development projects involve more distributed collaborations. This workshop is aimed at researchers and practitioners with an interest to overcome the challenges of performing PD in distributed design teams. Several critical issues need examination in order to understand the usefulness and constraints of distributed participatory design (DPD).

Distributed participatory design

Emergencies in industrial warehouses are a major concern for re ghters. The large dimensions together with the development of dense smoke that drastically reduces visibility, represent major challenges. The Guardians robot swarm is designed to assist re ghters in searching a large warehouse. In this paper we discuss the technology developed for a swarm of robots assisting re ghters. We explain the swarming algorithms which provide the functionality by which the robots react to and follow humans while no communication is required. Next we discuss the wireless communication system, which is a so-called mobile ad-hoc network. The communication network provides also the means to locate the robots and humans. Thus the robot swarm is able to provide guidance information to the humans. Together with the re ghters we explored how the robot swarm should feed information back to the human re ghter.

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Guardians Final Report Part 1 (draft): A Robot Swarm assisting a Human Fire Fighter

There are many different forms of human-robot interactions, allowing a team of humans and robots to take advantage of skills of each team member. A developing area of research is focused upon the potential of robot swarms working in emergency settings. In particular we consider a swarm of robots that are capable of supporting and enhancing fire fighting operations co-operatively. This paper outlines some of the key characteristics of this emergency setting, robot swarms within it and the work conducted to develop effective human-robot interaction.

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Amir M. Naghsh

Papers

A Robot Swarm Assisting a Human Fire-Fighter

Analysis and design of human-robot swarm interaction in firefighting

Distributed participatory design

Guardians Final Report Part 1 (draft): A Robot Swarm assisting a Human Fire Fighter

User interfaces for human robot interactions with a swarm of robots in support to firefighters