Top > JRM > Emergent Approach to Circle Formation by Multiple Autonomous M ...

single-rb.php

JRM Vol.21 No.1 pp. 3-11
doi: 10.20965/jrm.2009.p0003
(2009)

Paper:

Views over last 60 days: 465

Emergent Approach to Circle Formation by Multiple Autonomous Modular Robots

Takehiro Miyamae*, Sumiaki Ichikawa*, and Fumio Hara**

*Department of Mechanics and Systems Design, Faculty of Systems Engineering, Tokyo University of Science, Suwa, 5000-1 Toyohira, Chino, Nagano 391-0292, Japan

**Faculty of Engineering, Tokyo University of Science, 1-14-6 Kudankita, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0073, Japan

Received:
October 22, 2007
Accepted:
March 26, 2008
Published:
February 20, 2009
Creative Commons License
Keywords:
multi-autonomous-robot, micro-mechanism, local vision, circle formation, emergent approach
Abstract
This paper deals with the problem of circle formation by multiple autonomous robots on emergent approach. The robots in question are simple, having fan-shaped local vision consisting of three areas to detect three states in each area – whether the number of robots in an area is zero, one, or more than one. We suggest heuristic action decision rule having robots form a circle stochastically. Using computer simulation, we make it clear that view angles of the local vision and the number of robots in the arena affect circle forming process, and that the certainty of circle formation is high enough if robots have certain view angles. We describe that view angles control the distance between robots using kinematic view. The keys to designing robots to form a circle are the front-view angle for making virtual attraction force toward one robot, and the side-view angle for making equilibrium of virtual force toward two robots.
Cite this article as:
T. Miyamae, S. Ichikawa, and F. Hara, “Emergent Approach to Circle Formation by Multiple Autonomous Modular Robots,” J. Robot. Mechatron., Vol.21 No.1, pp. 3-11, 2009.
Data files:
References
  1. [1] C. W. Reynolds, “Flocks, Herds, and Schools: A Distributed Behavioral Model,” Computer Graphics (SIGGRAPH'87 Conf. Proc.), Vol.21, No.4, pp. 25-34, 1987.
  2. [2] N. Sannomiya and M. A. Dousrari, “A Simulation Study on Autonomous Decentralized Mechanism in Fish Behavior Model,” Int. Journal of Systems Science, Vol.27, pp. 1001-1007, 1996.
  3. [3] K. Sugihara and I. Suzuki, “Distributed Algorithms for Formation of Geometric Patterns with Many Mobile Robots,” Journal of Robotic Systems, Vol.13, No.3, pp. 127-139, 1996.
  4. [4] I. Suzuki and M. Yamashita, “Distributed Anonymous Mobile Robots: Formation of Geometric Patterns,” SIAM Journal on Computing, Vol.28, No.4, pp. 1347-1363, 1999.
  5. [5] K. Makino and Y. Matsuo, “Collective Behavior Control of Autonomous Mobile Robot Herds by Applying Simple Virtual Forces to Individual Robots,” Journal of the RSJ, Vol.22, No.8, pp. 1031-1042, 2004 (in Japanese).
  6. [6] M. Shimizu, M. Takahashi, T. Kawakatsu, and A. Ishiguro, “Real-time Morphology Control of a Modular Robot by Exploiting the Interplay between Control and Mechanical Systems,” Journal of the RSJ, Vol.23, No.6, pp. 78-84, 2005 (in Japanese).
  7. [7] T. Miyamae, S. Ichikawa, and F. Hara, “Stability Analysis of Circle Formation Generated by Multi-Robots with Local Vision,” Trans. JSME C, Vol.69, No.677, pp. 156-163, 2003 (in Japanese).

Creative Commons License  This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationa License.

Copyright© 2009 by Fuji Technology Press Ltd. and Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers. All right reserved.

*This site is desgined based on HTML5 and CSS3 for modern browsers, e.g. Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, Opera.

Last updated on Dec. 06, 2024