2 research outputs found
Evolving Shepherding Behavior with Genetic Programming Algorithms
We apply genetic programming techniques to the `shepherding' problem, in
which a group of one type of animal (sheep dogs) attempts to control the
movements of a second group of animals (sheep) obeying flocking behavior. Our
genetic programming algorithm evolves an expression tree that governs the
movements of each dog. The operands of the tree are hand-selected features of
the simulation environment that may allow the dogs to herd the sheep
effectively. The algorithm uses tournament-style selection, crossover
reproduction, and a point mutation. We find that the evolved solutions
generalize well and outperform a (naive) human-designed algorithm
A Comprehensive Review of Shepherding as a Bio-inspired Swarm-Robotics Guidance Approach
The simultaneous control of multiple coordinated robotic agents represents an
elaborate problem. If solved, however, the interaction between the agents can
lead to solutions to sophisticated problems. The concept of swarming, inspired
by nature, can be described as the emergence of complex system-level behaviors
from the interactions of relatively elementary agents. Due to the effectiveness
of solutions found in nature, bio-inspired swarming-based control techniques
are receiving a lot of attention in robotics. One method, known as swarm
shepherding, is founded on the sheep herding behavior exhibited by sheepdogs,
where a swarm of relatively simple agents are governed by a shepherd (or
shepherds) which is responsible for high-level guidance and planning. Many
studies have been conducted on shepherding as a control technique, ranging from
the replication of sheep herding via simulation, to the control of uninhabited
vehicles and robots for a variety of applications. We present a comprehensive
review of the literature on swarm shepherding to reveal the advantages and
potential of the approach to be applied to a plethora of robotic systems in the
future.Comment: Copyright 2020 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted.
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