Future urban mobility as a bio-inspired collaborative system of multi-functional autonomous vehicles

TL;DR

This paper proposes a bio-inspired, swarm robotics-based framework for future urban mobility, where autonomous, multi-functional vehicles collaborate to efficiently serve diverse urban transportation needs.

Contribution

It introduces a novel framework integrating swarm robotics principles into autonomous vehicle systems for future urban mobility.

Findings

Framework demonstrates potential for flexible, scalable vehicle collaboration

Supports diverse urban mobility tasks through multi-functional vehicle fleets

Inspired by natural swarms for robust and adaptive transportation systems

Abstract

The fast urbanization and climate change challenges require solutions that enable the efficient movement of people and goods in cities. We envision future cities to be composed of high-performing walkable districts where transportation needs could be served by fleets of ultra-lightweight shared and autonomous vehicles. A future in which most vehicles would be autonomous creates a new paradigm for the possible interactions between vehicles. Natural swarms are a great example of how rich interactions can be; they can divide tasks, cluster, build together, or transport cooperatively. The field of swarm robotics has translated some of the behaviors from natural swarms to artificial systems, proving to make systems more flexible, scalable, and robust. Inspired by nature and supported by swarm robotics, this paper proposes a future mobility in which shared, electric, and autonomous vehicles would be multi-functional and behave as a collaborative system. In this future, fleets of multi-functional vehicles would complete different tasks collaboratively, giving a response to the different urban mobility needs. This paper contributes with the proposal of a framework for future urban mobility that integrates current research and mobility trends in a novel and unique way.