# Mercator: A modular swarm-dedicated robot platform

## TL;DR

Mercator is a new, affordable robot platform designed for swarm robotics research, offering modern features like object recognition and communication.

## Contribution

Introduces Mercator, a modular and low-cost robot platform specifically built for modern swarm robotics experimentation.

## Key findings

- Mercator supports advanced perception, navigation, and communication for swarm robotics.
- The platform has been used in peer-reviewed research and academic theses.
- Mercator aligns laboratory swarm experiments with real-world robotic systems.

## Abstract

Despite decades of research, swarm robotics still lacks realistic applications. A primary obstacle is the absence of modern, reliable, and affordable robot platforms for experimentation. Existing commercial robots are often outdated or too limited in sensing, computation, and communication. We introduce Mercator, a modular mobile robot purpose-built for contemporary swarm studies in both laboratory and indoor environments. Mercator integrates on-board object and people recognition, short- and long-range obstacle detection, ceiling-based tracking, and local, decentralized communication. By combining these capabilities in a low-cost and extensible package, Mercator enables swarm robotics research to align with modern mobile robotics standards, supporting navigation, mapping, and advanced perception in laboratory settings. This design promotes closer alignment between laboratory swarm experiments and contemporary robotic systems used in real-world settings. The platform has already been used in peer-reviewed scientific work and several master’s theses, and we plan to expand its use in future research and teaching.

Graphical abstract Image 1