3,674 research outputs found
Embodied Evolution in Collective Robotics: A Review
This paper provides an overview of evolutionary robotics techniques applied
to on-line distributed evolution for robot collectives -- namely, embodied
evolution. It provides a definition of embodied evolution as well as a thorough
description of the underlying concepts and mechanisms. The paper also presents
a comprehensive summary of research published in the field since its inception
(1999-2017), providing various perspectives to identify the major trends. In
particular, we identify a shift from considering embodied evolution as a
parallel search method within small robot collectives (fewer than 10 robots) to
embodied evolution as an on-line distributed learning method for designing
collective behaviours in swarm-like collectives. The paper concludes with a
discussion of applications and open questions, providing a milestone for past
and an inspiration for future research.Comment: 23 pages, 1 figure, 1 tabl
HIRO-NET.Heterogeneous intelligent robotic network for internet sharing in disaster scenarios
This article describes HIRO-NET, an Heterogeneous Intelligent
Robotic Network. HIRO-NET is an emergency infrastructure-less
network that aims to address the problem of providing connectivity in
the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster, where no cellular or
wide area network is operational and no Internet access is available.
HIRO-NET establishes a two-tier wireless mesh network where the
Lower Tier connects nearby survivors in a self-organized mesh via
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and the Upper Tier creates long-range
VHF links between autonomous robots exploring the disaster stricken
area. HIRO-NET’s main goal is to enable users in the disaster area to
exchange text messages to share critical information and request help
from first responders. The mesh network discovery problem is analyzed
and a network protocol specifically designed to facilitate the exploration
process is presented. We show how HIRO-NET robots successfully
discover, bridge and interconnect local mesh networks. Results show
that the Lower Tier always reaches network convergence and the Upper
Tier can virtually extend HIRO-NET functionalities to the range of a
small metropolitan area. In the event of an Internet connection still being
available to some user, HIRO-NET is able to opportunistically share and
provide access to low data-rate services (e.g., Twitter, Gmail) to the
whole network. Results suggest that a temporary emergency network
to cover a metropolitan area can be created in tens of minutes.
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