Towards Stochastic Swarms for Environmental Applications

Abstract

Swarms of robots which have the ability to cover large outdoor areas could be useful in many applications. For example, the swarm could be placed in a crop field and each robot could act as a soil sensor. This could allow detailed readings to be taken of the soil at a high density. Alternatively, these robots could be used to distribute a small payload in an intelligent way. To make such deployments a reality requires new algorithms and robotic hardware. This thesis investigates one such system which we call the "Stochastic Swarm" which consists of a
large number of randomly jumping biodegradable robots. The Stochastic Swarm could be quickly deployed for sensing applications. The robots would be placed inside an environment, deployed from a central point and spread themselves through a series of jumps in random directions. Once deployed, the robots act as sensors and communicate changes in their local environment through colour change. In this thesis the Stochastic Swarm concept is analysed in simulation to learn how to design the individual robots. The lessons learned from the simulation are used to design a mass-producible jumping robot prototype. This design can perform up to five jumps when it is exposed to water in the environment. It also demonstrates local sensing through changing the
colour of its body. The jumping performance and biodegradability of the design are presented alongside ways to speed up its assembly. These investigations pave the way for large numbers of randomly moving swarms of robots to be deployed into outdoor environments in the future.

Date of Award	30 Sept 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Supervisor	Sabine Hauert (Supervisor) & Andrew T Conn (Supervisor)