Socially Inspired Communication in Swarm Robotics

TL;DR

This paper introduces a goal-based communication model for swarm robotics, demonstrating that targeted communication improves performance over random messaging, even at low levels of information exchange.

Contribution

The paper proposes a novel explicit non-directional communication scheme and validates its effectiveness through object gathering experiments in swarm robotics.

Findings

Goal-based communication outperforms random messaging.

Low levels of targeted communication are more effective than high levels of random communication.

Communication enhances swarm effectiveness in object gathering tasks.

Abstract

Localized communication in swarms has been shown to increase swarm effectiveness in some situations by allowing for additional opportunities for cooperation. However, communication and utilization of potentially outdated information is also a concern. We present an explicit non-directional goal-based communication model and message accept/reject scheme, and test our model in a set of object gathering experiments with a swarm of robots. The results of the experiments indicate that even low levels of communication regarding the swarm's goal outperform high levels of random information communication.