REU: RSSI-based rendezvous on the tiny terrestrial robotic platform (TinyTeRP)

Abstract

The TinyTeRP is a centimeter-scale, modular wheeled robotic platform developed for the study of swarm- ing or collective behavior. This paper presents the use of TinyTeRPs to implement collective recruitment and ren- dezvous to a fixed location using several RSSI-based gradient ascent algorithms. We also present a redesign of the wheel- based module with tank treads and a wider base, improving the robot’s mobility over uneven terrain and overall robustness. Lastly, we present improvements to the open source C libraries that allow users to easily implement high-level functions and closed-loop control on the TinyTeRP.