Task Allocation in Foraging Robot Swarms: The Role of Information Sharing

Lenka Pitonakova; Richard Crowder; Seth Bullock

doi:10.1162/ecal_a_0053

Task Allocation in Foraging Robot Swarms: The Role of Information Sharing

Lenka Pitonakova, Richard Crowder, Seth Bullock

Department of Computer Science

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference Contribution (Conference Proceeding)

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Abstract

Autonomous task allocation is a desirable feature of robot swarms that collect and deliver items in scenarios where congestion, caused by accumulated items or robots, can temporarily interfere with swarm behaviour. In such settings, self-regulation of workforce can prevent unnecessary energy consumption. We explore two types of self-regulation: non-social, where robots become idle upon experiencing congestion, and social, where robots broadcast information about congestion to their team mates in order to socially inhibit foraging. We show that while both types of self-regulation can lead to improved energy efficiency and increase the amount of resource collected, the speed with which information about congestion flows through a swarm affects the scalability of these algorithms.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Artificial Life XV
Subtitle of host publication	Proceedings of The Fifteenth International Conference on the Synthesis and Simulation of Living Systems
Editors	Tom Froese
Publisher	Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Press
Pages	306-313
Number of pages	8
ISBN (Print)	9780262339360
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1162/ecal_a_0053
Publication status	Published - Jul 2016

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Pitonakova, L., Crowder, R., & Bullock, S. (2016). Task Allocation in Foraging Robot Swarms: The Role of Information Sharing. In T. Froese (Ed.), Artificial Life XV: Proceedings of The Fifteenth International Conference on the Synthesis and Simulation of Living Systems (pp. 306-313). Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Press. https://doi.org/10.1162/ecal_a_0053

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abstract = "Autonomous task allocation is a desirable feature of robot swarms that collect and deliver items in scenarios where congestion, caused by accumulated items or robots, can temporarily interfere with swarm behaviour. In such settings, self-regulation of workforce can prevent unnecessary energy consumption. We explore two types of self-regulation: non-social, where robots become idle upon experiencing congestion, and social, where robots broadcast information about congestion to their team mates in order to socially inhibit foraging. We show that while both types of self-regulation can lead to improved energy efficiency and increase the amount of resource collected, the speed with which information about congestion flows through a swarm affects the scalability of these algorithms.",

author = "Lenka Pitonakova and Richard Crowder and Seth Bullock",

year = "2016",

month = jul,

doi = "10.1162/ecal_a_0053",

language = "English",

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Task Allocation in Foraging Robot Swarms : The Role of Information Sharing. / Pitonakova, Lenka; Crowder, Richard; Bullock, Seth.

Artificial Life XV: Proceedings of The Fifteenth International Conference on the Synthesis and Simulation of Living Systems. ed. / Tom Froese. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Press, 2016. p. 306-313.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference Contribution (Conference Proceeding)

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AU - Bullock, Seth

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Task Allocation in Foraging Robot Swarms: The Role of Information Sharing

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