910 research outputs found
Physics-Based Swarm Intelligence for Disaster Relief Communications
This study explores how a swarm of aerial mobile vehicles can provide network
connectivity and meet the stringent requirements of public protection and
disaster relief operations. In this context, we design a physics-based
controlled mobility strategy, which we name the extended Virtual Force Protocol
(VFPe), allowing self-propelled nodes, and in particular here unmanned aerial
vehicles, to fly autonomously and cooperatively. In this way, ground devices
scattered on the operation site may establish communications through the
wireless multi-hop communication routes formed by the network of aerial nodes.
We further investigate through simulations the behavior of the VFPe protocol,
notably focusing on the way node location information is disseminated into the
network as well as on the impact of the number of exploration nodes on the
overall network performance.Comment: in International Conference on Ad Hoc Networks and Wireless, Jul
2016, Lille, Franc
Sensor networks security based on sensitive robots agents. A conceptual model
Multi-agent systems are currently applied to solve complex problems. The
security of networks is an eloquent example of a complex and difficult problem.
A new model-concept Hybrid Sensitive Robot Metaheuristic for Intrusion
Detection is introduced in the current paper. The proposed technique could be
used with machine learning based intrusion detection techniques. The new model
uses the reaction of virtual sensitive robots to different stigmergic variables
in order to keep the tracks of the intruders when securing a sensor network.Comment: 5 page
Deaf, Dumb, and Chatting Robots, Enabling Distributed Computation and Fault-Tolerance Among Stigmergic Robot
We investigate ways for the exchange of information (explicit communication)
among deaf and dumb mobile robots scattered in the plane. We introduce the use
of movement-signals (analogously to flight signals and bees waggle) as a mean
to transfer messages, enabling the use of distributed algorithms among the
robots. We propose one-to-one deterministic movement protocols that implement
explicit communication. We first present protocols for synchronous robots. We
begin with a very simple coding protocol for two robots. Based on on this
protocol, we provide one-to-one communication for any system of n \geq 2 robots
equipped with observable IDs that agree on a common direction (sense of
direction). We then propose two solutions enabling one-to-one communication
among anonymous robots. Since the robots are devoid of observable IDs, both
protocols build recognition mechanisms using the (weak) capabilities offered to
the robots. The first protocol assumes that the robots agree on a common
direction and a common handedness (chirality), while the second protocol
assumes chirality only. Next, we show how the movements of robots can provide
implicit acknowledgments in asynchronous systems. We use this result to design
asynchronous one-to-one communication with two robots only. Finally, we combine
this solution with the schemes developed in synchronous settings to fit the
general case of asynchronous one-to-one communication among any number of
robots. Our protocols enable the use of distributing algorithms based on
message exchanges among swarms of Stigmergic robots. Furthermore, they provides
robots equipped with means of communication to overcome faults of their
communication device
Stigmergic epistemology, stigmergic cognition
To know is to cognize, to cognize is to be a culturally bounded, rationality-bounded and environmentally located agent. Knowledge and cognition are thus dual aspects of human sociality. If social epistemology has the formation, acquisition, mediation, transmission and dissemination of knowledge in complex communities of knowers as its subject matter, then its third party character is essentially stigmergic. In its most generic formulation, stigmergy is the phenomenon of indirect communication mediated by modifications of the environment. Extending this notion one might conceive of social stigmergy as the extra-cranial analog of an artificial neural network providing epistemic structure. This paper recommends a stigmergic framework for social epistemology to account for the supposed tension between individual action, wants and beliefs and the social corpora. We also propose that the so-called "extended mind" thesis offers the requisite stigmergic cognitive analog to stigmergic knowledge. Stigmergy as a theory of interaction within complex systems theory is illustrated through an example that runs on a particle swarm optimization algorithm
Stigmergy in comparative settlement choice and palaeoenvironment simulation
Decisions on settlement location in the face of climate change and coastal inundation may have resulted in success, survival or even catastrophic failure for early settlers in many parts of the world. In this study, we investigate various questions related to how individuals respond to a palaeoenvironmental simulation, on an interactive tabletop device where participants have the opportunity to build a settlement on a coastal land- scape, balancing safety, and access to resources, including sea and terrestrial foodstuffs, while taking into con- sideration the threat of rising sea levels. The results of the study were analyzed to consider whether decisions on settlement were predicated to be near to locations where previous structures were located, stigmergically, and whether later settler choice would fare better, and score higher, as time progressed. The proximity of settlements was investigated and the reasons for clustering were considered. The interactive simulation was exhibited to thousands of visitors at the 2012 Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition at the ‘‘Europe’s Lost World’’ exhibit. 347 participants contributed to the simulation, providing a sufficiently large sample of data for analysis
Response Ant Colony Optimization of End Milling Surface Roughness
Metal cutting processes are important due to increased consumer demands for quality metal cutting related products (more precise tolerances and better product surface roughness) that has driven the metal cutting industry to continuously improve quality control of metal cutting processes. This paper presents optimum surface roughness by using milling mould aluminium alloys (AA6061-T6) with Response Ant Colony Optimization (RACO). The approach is based on Response Surface Method (RSM) and Ant Colony Optimization (ACO). The main objectives to find the optimized parameters and the most dominant variables (cutting speed, feedrate, axial depth and radial depth). The first order model indicates that the feedrate is the most significant factor affecting surface roughness
A hexamer origin of the echinoderms' five rays
Of the major deuterostome groups, the echinoderms with their multiple forms
and complex development are arguably the most mysterious. Although larval
echinoderms are bilaterally symmetric, the adult body seems to abandon the
larval body plan and to develop independently a new structure with different
symmetries. The prevalent pentamer structure, the asymmetry of Loven's rule and
the variable location of the periproct and madrepore present enormous
difficulties in homologizing structures across the major clades, despite the
excellent fossil record. This irregularity in body forms seems to place
echinoderms outside the other deuterostomes. Here I propose that the
predominant five-ray structure is derived from a hexamer structure that is
grounded directly in the structure of the bilaterally symmetric larva. This
hypothesis implies that the adult echinoderm body can be derived directly from
the larval bilateral symmetry and thus firmly ranks even the adult echinoderms
among the bilaterians. In order to test the hypothesis rigorously, a model is
developed in which one ray is missing between rays IV-V (Loven's schema) or
rays C-D (Carpenter's schema). The model is used to make predictions, which are
tested and verified for the process of metamorphosis and for the morphology of
recent and fossil forms. The theory provides fundamental insight into the
M-plane and the Ubisch', Loven's and Carpenter's planes and generalizes them
for all echinoderms. The theory also makes robust predictions about the
evolution of the pentamer structure and its developmental basis. *** including
corrections (see footnotes) ***Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure
Ants in a Labyrinth: A Statistical Mechanics Approach to the Division of Labour
Division of labour (DoL) is a fundamental organisational principle in human
societies, within virtual and robotic swarms and at all levels of biological
organisation. DoL reaches a pinnacle in the insect societies where the most
widely used model is based on variation in response thresholds among
individuals, and the assumption that individuals and stimuli are well-mixed.
Here, we present a spatially explicit model of DoL. Our model is inspired by
Pierre de Gennes' 'Ant in a Labyrinth' which laid the foundations
of an entire new field in statistical mechanics. We demonstrate the emergence,
even in a simplified one-dimensional model, of a spatial patterning of
individuals and a right-skewed activity distribution, both of which are
characteristics of division of labour in animal societies. We then show using a
two-dimensional model that the work done by an individual within an activity
bout is a sigmoidal function of its response threshold. Furthermore, there is an
inverse relationship between the overall stimulus level and the skewness of the
activity distribution. Therefore, the difference in the amount of work done by
two individuals with different thresholds increases as the overall stimulus
level decreases. Indeed, spatial fluctuations of task stimuli are minimised at
these low stimulus levels. Hence, the more unequally labour is divided amongst
individuals, the greater the ability of the colony to maintain homeostasis.
Finally, we show that the non-random spatial distribution of individuals within
biological and social systems could be caused by indirect (stigmergic)
interactions, rather than direct agent-to-agent interactions. Our model links
the principle of DoL with principles in the statistical mechanics and provides
testable hypotheses for future experiments
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