Swarm Robotics:A Survey

Abstract

The field of swarm robotics is surveyed from a computer-science perspective.Both the historical basis and the current research of the field are summarized.Swarm robotics is a novel discipline and approach which is inspired by social insects.By this approach,large numbers of relatively simple robots can be controlled to deal with prescribed complex tasks in an economical, robust,flexible and scalable fashion.In this paper,the key definitions of this newly emerging method are introduced and a set of criteria is presented which can be used to distinguish swarm robotics research from'other multi-robot studies.Then,the desirable properties of swarm robotics in the system-level function are described.Finally,central issues of swarm robotics are discussed including interaction between individual robots,communication,cooperation and control,self-organizing and self-assembling etc.