Shoal robotics - definition
Shoal robotics - definition
Shoal robotics (swarm robotics) is a field of robotics inspired by phenomena of collective behaviour found in nature, such as the movements of schools of fish, swarms of insects or flocks of birds. It focuses on the design, modelling and control of groups of simple, relatively small robots that work together in a decentralised manner to perform complex tasks without an overarching controller. Such a system is characterised by high scalability, robustness to unit failure and adaptability in dynamic environments.
Each robot in the shoal operates on the basis of local information obtained from the environment or from communication with the nearest units. Their behaviour is determined by simple rules that, when combined, lead to the emergence of complex global patterns of action. Central to shoal robotics is the autonomy of individual agents, limited perception of the environment, asynchronous operation and lack of centralised coordination.
Technologies being developed within this field are finding applications in space exploration, environmental monitoring, rescue operations, precision agriculture, storage and transportation, as well as military applications and scientific research, among others. Thanks to their distributed structure, these systems can continue to operate even when some units fail, and their numbers can be flexibly increased without changing the control algorithms.
Shoal robotics uses Tools from bio-inspired algorithms, control theory, machine learning and multi-agent systems. It also requires the development of effective methods of communication, collision avoidance, relative localisation and consensus, which are essential to achieve coordination and cooperation between units in a dynamic environment.
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