Spatial Self-Organization in Large Populations of Mobile Robots

Abstract

A homogeneous population of robots is to be realized for applications such us material transportation, hazardous material handling, planetary exploration, etc. Several algorithms for spatial self-organization of this swarm are given. Self-organizing agents can arrange themselves geometrically in two- and three-dimensional space using only local information. The method is a distributed one: each agent uses only information obtained by its own sensors. Algorithms are based on feasible assumptions on sensing capability. It is also shown possible to divide such a population into groups around goals by communicating minimal data. The self-organizing characteristic of the swarm provide a modular, adaptive and dynamic system. The approach is useful when a central controller is not feasible. Performance of the algorithms is shown with simulations.