Congestion Avoidance for Multiple Micro-Robots Using the Behaviour of Fish Schools

Abstract

This article summarizes a research topic which discusses one of the most common problems in multiple micro-robots' navigation, namely congestion avoidance. This situation occurs when troops of micro-robots moving in different directions meet each other at a common area causing congestion situations. To avoid this risky state - which can create an inextricable scenario - firstly, we established a local and a global communication network that manages the robots' displacement through formation control. This warns each of them of the existence of a risk of congestion and manages the choice of the priority group, which is a new concept that we introduce in order to deal with this kind of congestion conflict. Secondly, we consider a new algorithm based on chaotic equations and inspired by the behaviour of schools of fish, which solves the congestion problem by creating a bifurcation of the troop's configuration and enables the proper avoidance of the conflict exhibited by congestion.