Showing papers on "Ant robotics published in 1998"

Self-organizing collective robots with morphogenesis in a vertical plane

Abstract: This paper presents a novel concept of self-organizing collective robots with morphogenesis in a vertical plane. It is potentially applicable to autonomous mobile robots. For physical reconfiguration of a swarm of robots against gravity, new types of mechanisms and control strategies are proposed and demonstrated. Prototype robots have been fabricated in order to confirm the basic feasibility of the mechanisms. Each robot is composed of a body and a pair of arms. The body can be regarded as a cube with edge length of 90 mm, and is equipped with permanent magnets for bonding with another robot. The arms change the bonding configuration by rotating and sliding motions. As for the control strategies, we proposed the algorithms which can locally generate specific global formations of robots, with minimum interactions between neighboring robots. The overall scheme is similar to cellular automata. The control algorithms proposed have been tested by simulations.

Exhaustive Geographic Search with Mobile Robots Along Space-Filling Curves

Abstract: Swarms of mobile robots can be tasked with searching a geographic region for targets of interest, such as buried land mines. We assume that the individual robots are equipped with sensors tuned to the targets of interest, that these sensors have limited range, and that the robots can communicate with one anotlier to enable cooperation. I low can a swarnl of cooperating sensate robots efficiently search a given geographic region for targets in the absence of a priori information about the targets' locations? Many of the “obvious” approaches are inefficient or lack robustness. One efficient approach is to have the robots traverse a space filling curve. For many geographic search applications, this method is energy-frugal, highly robust, and provides guaranteed coverage in a finite time that decreases as the reciprocal of the number of robots sharing the search task. Furthermore, control is inherently decentralized and requires very little robot-to-robot communication for the robots to organize their movements. This report presents some preliminary results from applying the Hilbert space-filling curve to geographic search by mobile robots.

Adaptation as a more powerful tool than decomposition and integration: experimental evidences from evolutionary robotics

Abstract: A new way of building control systems, known as behavior based robotics, has been proposed to overcome the difficulties of the traditional Al approach to robotics. Most of the work done in behavior-based robotics involves a decomposition process (in which the behavior required is broken down into simpler sub-components) and an integration process (in which the modules designed to produce the sub-behaviors are put together). We claim that decomposition and integration should be the result of an adaptation process and not of the decision of the experimenter. In this paper we support this hypothesis by showing how in two different cases a more simple and robust solution can be obtained by letting the entire behavior emerge through an evolutionary technique than by trying to design a set of modules and to coordinate them.

Self-reconfigurable molecule robots as 3D metamorphic robots

Abstract: This paper describes a three-dimensional self-reconfiguring system that is capable of reconfiguration and the associated planning in polynomial time. The approach is to reduce a system composed of molecule robots to metamorphic robots. Having done so, we are able to apply polynomial-time planning algorithms that have previously been used only in two-dimensional systems.

Performance Evaluation of Multiple Robots in a Search and Retrieval Task

Abstract: In this paper we study the performance of multiple robots at a search and retrieval task. The robots have all the same capabilities and perform the same task without any explicit communication. The sensing capabilities of the robots are quite limited, yet the robots succeed at performing the task. We show how the performance is affected by the number of robots working in the same area, the distribution of the targets the robots are searching for, and the complexity of the environment.

Behavior-based robotics, its scope and its prospects

Abstract: The paper gives an introduction to behavior-based robotics and explains its prospects for industry First, the roots of behavior-based robotics in the scientific fields of artificial life and behavior-oriented artificial intelligence are presented Based on this, the important conceptual aspects of behavior-based robotics are explained The concepts are further motivated and illustrated with experiments in an ecosystem-like setting, where mobile robots interact in autonomous re-charging and working tasks In addition to basic research issues, more application oriented work and industrial prospects are presented

Learning model for adaptive behaviors as an organized group of swarm robots

Abstract: This paper describes a novel organizational learning model for multiple adaptive robots. In this model, robots acquire their own appropriate functions through local interactions among their neighbors, and get out of deadlock situations without explicit control mechanisms or communication methods. Robots also complete given tasks by forming an organizational structure, and improve their organizational performance. We focus on the emergent processes of collective behaviors in multiple robots, and discuss how to control these behaviors with only local evaluation functions, rather than with a centralized control system. Intensive simulations of truss construction by multiple robots gave the following experimental results: (1) robots in our model acquire their own appropriate functions and get out of deadlock situations without explicit control mechanisms or communication methods; (2) robots form an organizational structure which completes given tasks in fewer steps than are needed with a centralized control mechanism.

Fault tolerance in a multiple robots organization based on an organizational learning model

Abstract: This paper investigates the ability of reorganization in our organizational learning model to maintain the collective performance of multiple robots in terms of fault tolerance. In real applications using these robots, when the membership of robots is changed according to situation or some robots become defective or inoperative, it is necessary for those robots that remain to reform their organization in order to continue to complete given tasks. Through intensive simulations on the same truss construction task, the following experimental results were obtained: (1) Our model enables robots to continue to complete given tasks by reforming their organization, when a membership of robots is changed or some faulty robots are removed, and (2) The number of steps before operation does not increase very much as compared with the steps after operation.

Robots in entertainment an example for technology transfer

Abstract: Intelligent robots are, not only because of the rapidly decreasing prices of sensors, available on the market. Worldwide approximately 50 companies try to sell such robots or parts of them. Problems in marketing are the high price, the acceptance by the proposed users and the management of these mostly small companies. This contribution tries to analyze these problems at the example of intelligent robots for entertainment especially soccer robots. Entertainment robots represent from the commercial point of view one of the fast growing fields in the nearest future. A good product in this “high tech” market segment will have a better chance when using some methods of Engineering Management for development, production and marketing.

Communication in distributed control telerobotics environments

Abstract: t> ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A \ ^j(Sincere appreciation is expressed to Dr. Micheal Parten, my major advisor, for QOQK ^ his guidance and assistance through my graduate study. Also, appreciation is expressed to Dr. Alan A. Barhorst and Dr Thomas F. Krile for their valuable comments and serving on the committee. I also like to thank the Department of Electrical Engineering for the financial assistance during the period of my graduate study. Specially, I would like to thank my lovely wife, Jessy Huang, for her help and encouragement during my pursuit of this graduate degree.