Interesting!
Complex systems are characterized by many independent components whose low-level actions produce collective high-level results. Predicting high-level results given low-level rules is a key open challenge; the inverse problem, finding low-level rules that give specific outcomes. We present a multi-agent construction system inspired by mound-building termites, solving such an inverse problem. A user specifies a desired structure, and the system automatically generates low-level rules for independent climbing robots that guarantee production of that structure. Robots use only local sensing and coordinate their activity via the shared environment. We demonstrate the approach via a physical realization with three autonomous climbing robots limited to onboard sensing. This work advances the aim of engineering complex systems that achieve specific human-designed goals.
From: Justin Werfel
Posted At: Friday, 14 February 2014 11:00 AM
Posted To: Science: Current Issue
Conversation: [Report] Designing Collective Behavior in a Termite-Inspired Robot Construction Team
Subject: [Report] Designing Collective Behavior in a Termite-Inspired Robot Construction Team
Robots programmed with simple construction rules can work independently but collectively to build a complex structure. [Also see Perspective by Korb] Authors: Justin Werfel, Kirstin Petersen, Radhika Nagpal
View article...<http://www.sciencemag.org/content/343/6172/754.summary?rss=1>
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