Swarm robotic platforms

Swarm robotic platforms apply swarm robotics[1] in multi-robot collaboration.[2] They take inspiration from nature (e.g. collective problem solving mechanisms seen in nature such as honey bee aggregation[3][4]). The main goal is to control a large number of robots (with limited sensing/processing ability) to accomplish a common task/problem. Hardware limitation and cost of robot platforms limit current research in swarm robotics to mostly performed by simulation software (e.g. Stage,[5] ARGoS[6]). On the other hand, simulation of swarm scenarios that needs large numbers of agents is extremely complex and often inaccurate due to poor modelling of external conditions and limitation of computation.

Comparison of platforms

Several mobile robot platforms have previously been developed to study swarm applications.

RobotSensor / ModuleMotion/ Max. SpeedSize/DiameterAutonomy TimeUniversity/InstituteOpen source softwareOpen source hardwareDescriptionImage
AMiRdistance, light, bearingwheel, 10 cm/s6.5 cm2 hUniversity Putra MalaysiaAMiR[7]is a low-cost swarm robotic platform, developed as an open-source / open-hardware mobile robot. Many researches mostly on honeybee aggregation[3] (BEECLUST) was conducted with AMiR (e.g. Fuzzy decisioning[4]).
Alicedistance, camerawheel, 4 cm/s2.2 cm10 hÉcole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), SwitzerlandAlice is a swarm robotic platform built in a very small package size. Alice has been used in many swarm research applications such as the embodiment of cockroach aggregation.[8]
The Alice microrobot
Cellulostructured dense pattern sensing camera, capacitive touchomnidirectional ball wheel, 20 cm/s7.5 cm1-2 hÉcole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), SwitzerlandCellulo[9][10] is one of the world's first tangible swarm robot platforms, combining autonomous swarms with haptic-enabled multi-user tangible interaction. Initially invented as an educational platform, research is now being conducted on rehabilitation, gaming and human-computer interaction with Cellulo in addition to education.
Cellulo robots in a tangible swarm interaction scenario.
Coliasdistance, light, bump, bearing, rangewheel / 35 cm/s4 cm1-3 hCIL at University of Lincoln, UKColias[11][12] is a low-cost open-source (open-hardware) platform that was developed for use in swarm robotic applications.
Swarm of Colias robot
Colias-IIICamera, distance, light, bump, bearing, rangewheel, 35 cm/s4 cm1-3 hCIL at University of Lincoln, UKColias-III[13] is an extended version of the Colias micro-robot. It was mainly developed for implementation of bio-inspired vision systems.
Colias-III
DropletsLightvibration 4.4 cm24h+Correll Lab at the University of Colorado[14]Droplets are an open hard- and software experimental platform for large-scale swarming research.[14][15][16] The team raised funds via crowdfunding to build 1000 of these 'Droplets'.[17] Infinite experiments due to a powered floor that doubles as global communication medium for swarm programming.[18]
E-puckdistance, camera, bearing, accele, micwheel / 13 cm/s7.5 cm1-10 hÉcole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland[19]E-puck[20] is one of the most successful robots and was primarily designed for educational purposes. However, due to its simplicity, it is frequently employed in swarm robotics research as well. It has user replaceable batteries and an autonomy time of 2-4 h.
e-puck mobile robot
Jasminedistance, light, bearingwheel , N/A3 cm1-2 hUniversity of Stuttgart, Germany[21]Jasmine[22] is a swarm robotic platform which was used in many swarm robotic researches.[3]
Swarm of open-source Jasmine micro-robots
Kilobotdistance, lightvibration, 1 cm/s3.3 cm3 - 24 hHarvard University, USA[23][24]Kilobot[25] is a relatively recent swarm robotic platform with novel functions such as group charging and group programming. Due to its simplicity and low power consumption, it has a long autonomy time of up to 24 h. Robots are charged manually in groups in a special charging station.
Kobotdistance, bearing, vision, compasswheel , N/A12 cm10 hKOVAN Research Lab, Middle East Technical University, TurkeyKobot[26]is a mobile robot specifically designed for swarm robotic research. It has several sensors that makes it an ideal platform for implementing various swarm robotic scenarios such as coordinated motion. It has approximately 10 h of autonomy time. It has a user replaceable battery which is recharged manually. It has been used in implementation of a self-organised flocking scenario.[27]
Monadistance, bump, range, RFwheel, 5 cm/s6.5 cmPerpetualThe University of Manchester, UK[28][29]Mona[30] is an open-source robot mainly designed to test the proposed Perpetual Robotic Swarm[31]. It has been designed as a modular platform allowing deployment of additional modules that are attached on top of the platform, such as wireless communication or a vision board. Latest version of the robot was developed as a robotic platform for education and research purposes.
R-Onelight, IR, gyro, bump, accelerometerwheel, 30 cm/s10 cm6 hRice University, USA[32]R-one[33] is a low-cost Robot for research and teaching purposes. It was used in several study on swarm robotics.
S-botlight, IR, position, force, speed, temp, humidity, acc., mictreels12 cm2 hÉcole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), SwitzerlandS-bot[34] is one of the most influential and capable swarm robotic platforms ever built. s-bots have a unique gripper design capable of gripping objects and other s-bots. They have an autonomy time of approximately 1 h.
SwarmBotrange, bearing, camera, bumpwheel, 50 cm/s12.7 cm3 hRice University, USASwarmBot[35] is another successful platform developed for swarm robotics research. It has approximately 3 h of autonomy time and robots are able to find and dock to charging stations which are placed on walls.

References

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  2. Şahin, Erol. "Swarm robotics: From sources of inspiration to domains of application". International workshop on swarm robotics. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2004.
  3. 1 2 3 Schmickl, Thomas, et al. "Get in touch: cooperative decision making based on robot-to-robot collisions". Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems 18.1 (2009): 133-155.
  4. 1 2 Arvin, Farshad, et al. "Cue-based aggregation with a mobile robot swarm: a novel fuzzy-based method". Adaptive Behavior (2014): 1059712314528009. doi:10.1177/1059712314528009.
  5. Vaughan, Richard. "Massively multi-robot simulation in stage". Swarm Intelligence 2.2-4 (2008): 189-208.
  6. Pinciroli, Carlo, et al. "ARGoS: a modular, multi-engine simulator for heterogeneous swarm robotics". 2011 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems. IEEE, 2011.
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  9. Özgür, Ayberk; et al. (2017-03-06). "Cellulo: Versatile Handheld Robots for Education". Proceedings of the 2017 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI '17). ACM: 119–127. doi:10.1145/2909824.3020247. ISBN 9781450343367.
  10. Özgür, Ayberk (2018). Cellulo: Tangible Haptic Swarm Robots for Learning (PhD). EPFL. doi:10.5075/epfl-thesis-8241.
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  13. Hu, Cheng, et al. "A Bio-inspired Embedded Vision System for Autonomous Micro-robots: the LGMD Case",IEEE Transactions on Cognitive and Developmental Systems, 2016.
  14. 1 2 "Droplets". Correll Lab. 20 December 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
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  26. Turgut, Ali E., et al. "Kobot: A mobile robot designed specifically for swarm robotics research." Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, METUCENG-TR Tech. Rep 5 (2007)
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  28. "Mona Robot". Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  29. https://github.com/MonaRobot/Mona-Platform
  30. F.Arvin, J. Espinosa, B. Bird, A. West, S.Watson, B.Lennox ""Mona: an Affordable Open-Source Mobile Robot for Education and Research"". , Journal of Intelligent & Robotic Systems, 2018
  31. F.Arvin, S.Watson, A.E.Turgut, J. Espinosa, T.Krajník, B.Lennox "Perpetual Robot Swarm: Long-Term Autonomy of Mobile Robots Using On-the-fly Inductive Charging", Journal of Intelligent & Robotic Systems, 2017
  32. "Multi-Robot Systems Lab - Rice University, Houston TX". mrsl.rice.edu. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
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