Sandsbots: Robots That Sync and Swarm

Abstract

This article presents a multi-robot system that forms emergent space-time patterns. Inspired by the theory of swarmalators, in which synchronization and swarming of agents are mutually coupled, we propose a robot-suitable model for coordination in time and space. The approach is evaluated by simulations and demonstrated as proof of concept using small robots and drones. The novel building blocks comprise a time-discrete swarm aggregation model-which works robustly with low update rates in systems with communication delays-and specific functions that couple this spatial model to a discrete temporal coordination model, resulting in an overall discrete spatio-temporal coordination model.