Swarm robotics: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 06:17, 4 December 2024

Revision as of 06:23, 4 December 2024

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== Applications ==

Most efforts have focused on relatively small groups of machines. However, a swarm consisting of 1,024 individual robots was demonstrated by Harvard in 2014, the largest to date.<ref>{{cite web |date=14 August 2014 |title=A self-organizing thousand-robot swarm |url=http://www.seas.harvard.edu/news/2014/08/self-organizing-thousand-robot-swarm |access-date=16 August 2014 |work=Harvard}}</ref> Potential applications for swarm robotics are many.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cheraghi |first1=Ahmad Reza |last2=Shahzad |first2=Sahdia |last3=Graffi |first3=Kalman |title=Past, Present, and Future of Swarm Robotics |date=2021 |arxiv=2101.00671 }}</ref> They include tasks that demand [[miniaturization]] ([[nanorobotics]], [[microbotics]]), like distributed sensing tasks in [[micromachinery]] or the human body. One of the most promising uses of swarm robotics is in [[rescue robot|search and rescue]] missions.<ref name="tvt">Hu, J.; Niu, H.; Carrasco, J.; Lennox, B.; Arvin, F., "[https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9244647 Voronoi-Based Multi-Robot Autonomous Exploration in Unknown Environments via Deep Reinforcement Learning]" IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, 2020.</ref> Swarms of robots of different sizes could be sent to places that rescue-workers cannot reach safely, to explore the unknown environment and solve complex mazes via onboard sensors.<ref name="tvt" /> On the other hand, swarm robotics can be suited to tasks that demand cheap designs, for instance [[mining]] or agricultural shepherding tasks.<ref name="tcds">Hu, J.; Turgut, A.; Krajnik, T.; Lennox, B.; Arvin, F., "[https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/9173524 Occlusion-Based Coordination Protocol Design for Autonomous Robotic Shepherding Tasks]" IEEE Transactions on Cognitive and Developmental Systems, 2020.</ref>

=== Drone swarms ===

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==== Acoustic swarms ====

In 2023, University of Washington and Microsoft researchers demonstrated acoustic swarms of tiny robots that create shape-changing smart speakers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Itani |first1=Malek |last2=Chen |first2=Tuochao |last3=Yoshioka |first3=Takuya |last4=Gollakota |first4=Shyamnath |date=2023-09-21 |title=Creating speech zones with self-distributing acoustic swarms |journal=Nature Communications |language=en |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=5684 |bibcode=2023NatCo..14.5684I |doi=10.1038/s41467-023-40869-8 |issn=2041-1723 |pmc=10514314 |pmid=37735445 |doi-access=free}}</ref> These can be used for manipulating acoustic scenes to focus on or mute sounds from a specific region in a room.<ref>{{Cite web |title=UW team's shape-changing smart speaker lets users mute different areas of a room |url=https://www.washington.edu/news/2023/09/21/shape-changing-smart-speaker-ai-noise-canceling-alexa-robot/ |access-date=2023-09-21 |website=UW News |language=en}}</ref> Here, tiny robots cooperate with each other using sound signals, without any cameras, to navigate cooperatively with centimeter-level accuracy. These swarm devices spread out across a surface to create a distributed and reconfigurable wireless microphone array. They also navigate back to the charging station where they can be automatically recharged.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Creating Speech Zones Using Self-distributing Acoustic Swarms |url=https://acousticswarm.cs.washington.edu/ |access-date=2023-09-21 |website=acousticswarm.cs.washington.edu}}</ref>

==== Kilobot ====

Most efforts have focused on relatively small groups of machines. However, a [[Kilobot]] swarm consisting of 1,024 individual robots was demonstrated by Harvard in 2014, the largest to date.<ref>{{cite web |date=14 August 2014 |title=A self-organizing thousand-robot swarm |url=http://www.seas.harvard.edu/news/2014/08/self-organizing-thousand-robot-swarm |access-date=16 August 2014 |work=Harvard}}</ref>

==== LIBOT ====

OneAnother example of miniaturization is the LIBOT Robotic System<ref>{{citation |last1=Zahugi |first1=Emaad Mohamed H. |title=2012 IEEE International Conference on Cyber Technology in Automation, Control, and Intelligent Systems (CYBER) |pages=342–347 |year=2012 |chapter=Libot: Design of a low cost mobile robot for outdoor swarm robotics |doi=10.1109/CYBER.2012.6392577 |isbn=978-1-4673-1421-3 |s2cid=14692473 |last2=Shabani |first2=Ahmed M. |last3=Prasad |first3=T. V.}}</ref> that involves a low cost robot built for outdoor swarm robotics. The robots are also made with provisions for indoor use via Wi-Fi, since the GPS sensors provide poor communication inside buildings.

[[File:Swarm of Colias Robot.jpg|alt=A swarm of open source micro Colias robots|thumb|A swarm of open source micro Colias robots]]