Pheromone robotics

David W. Payton; Michael J. Daily; Bruce Hoff; Michael D. Howard; Craig L. Lee

doi:10.1117/12.417331

2 March 2001 Pheromone robotics

David W. Payton, Michael J. Daily, Bruce Hoff, Michael D. Howard, Craig L. Lee

Proceedings Volume 4195, Mobile Robots XV and Telemanipulator and Telepresence Technologies VII; (2001) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.417331
Event: Intelligent Systems and Smart Manufacturing, 2000, Boston, MA, United States

Abstract

We describe techniques for coordinating the actions of large numbers of small-scale robots to achieve useful large-scale results in surveillance, reconnaissance, hazard detection, and path finding. Inspired by the chemical markers used by insects for communication and coordination, we exploit the notion of a “virtual pheromone,” implemented using simple beacons and directional sensors mounted on each robot. Virtual pheromones facilitate simple communication and coordination and require little on-board processing. Our virtual pheromone technique enables a robot collective to become a distributed computing mesh embedded within the environment, while simultaneously acting as a physical embodiment of the user interface. This leads to notions of world embedded computation and world embedded interfaces that provide new ways to think about robot colonies.

Citation Download Citation

David W. Payton, Michael J. Daily, Bruce Hoff, Michael D. Howard, and Craig L. Lee "Pheromone robotics", Proc. SPIE 4195, Mobile Robots XV and Telemanipulator and Telepresence Technologies VII, (2 March 2001); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.417331

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