Subsumption architecture for enabling strategic coordination of robot swarms in a gaming scenario

The field of swarm robotics breaks away from traditional research by maximizing the performance of a group - swarm - of limited robots instead of optimizing the intelligence of a single robot. Similar to current-generation strategy video games, the player controls groups of units - squads - instead of the individual participants. These individuals are rather unintelligent robots, capable of little more than navigating and using their weapons. However, clever control of the squads of autonomous robots by the game players can make for intense, strategic matches. The gaming framework presented in this article provides players with strategic coordination of robot squads. The developed swarm intelligence techniques break up complex squad commands into several commands for each robot using robot formations and path finding while avoiding obstacles. These algorithms are validated through a 'Capture the Flag' gaming scenario where a complex squad command is split up into several robot commands in a matter of milliseconds

Theoretical calculations that determine the stability of the knife holder milling tool on a support sliding in the process of operation

In this regard at department of woodworking machines and tools the mill which has an opportunity to change the angles of cutting and an axial corner at the same time is designed and made. It will allow to reduce power by cutting, to increase quality of the processed sur-face and to increase the period of firmness of the tool.На кафедре деревообрабатывающих станков и инструментов спроектирована и изготовлена фреза, у которой есть возможность изменять углы резания и осевой угол одновременно. Это позволит уменьшить мощность на резание, повысить качество обработанной поверхности и увеличить период стойкости инструмента

Spatial effects, sampling errors, and task specialization in the honey bee

Task allocation patterns should depend on the spatial distribution of work within the nest, variation in task demand, and the movement patterns of workers, however, relatively little research has focused on these topics. This study uses a spatially explicit agent based model to determine whether such factors alone can generate biases in task performance at the individual level in the honey bees, Apis mellifera. Specialization (bias in task performance) is shown to result from strong sampling error due to localized task demand, relatively slow moving workers relative to nest size, and strong spatial variation in task demand. To date, specialization has been primarily interpreted with the response threshold concept, which is focused on intrinsic (typically genotypic) differences between workers. Response threshold variation and sampling error due to spatial effects are not mutually exclusive, however, and this study suggests that both contribute to patterns of task bias at the individual level. While spatial effects are strong enough to explain some documented cases of specialization; they are relatively short term and not explanatory for long term cases of specialization. In general, this study suggests that the spatial layout of tasks and fluctuations in their demand must be explicitly controlled for in studies focused on identifying genotypic specialists

Effects of Brood Pheromone Modulated Brood Rearing Behaviors on Honey Bee (Apis mellifera L.) Colony Growth

A hallmark of eusociality is cooperative brood care. In most social insect systems brood rearing labor is divided between individuals working in the nest tending the queen and larvae, and foragers collecting food outside the nest. To place brood rearing division of labor within an evolutionary context, it is necessary to understand relationships between individuals in the nest engaged in brood care and colony growth in the honey bee. Here we examined responses of the queen, queen-worker interactions, and nursing behaviors to an increase in the brood rearing stimulus environment using brood pheromone. Colony pairs were derived from a single source and were headed by open-mated sister queens, for a total of four colony pairs. One colony of a pair was treated with 336 µg of brood pheromone, and the other a blank control. Queens in the brood pheromone treated colonies laid significantly more eggs, were fed longer, and were less idle compared to controls. Workers spent significantly more time cleaning cells in pheromone treatments. Increasing the brood rearing stimulus environment with the addition of brood pheromone significantly increased the tempo of brood rearing behaviors by bees working in the nest resulting in a significantly greater amount of brood reared

Mycoplasma hyorhinis-contaminated cell lines activate primary innate immune cells via a protease-sensitive factor

Mycoplasma are a frequent and occult contaminant of cell cultures, whereby these prokaryotic organisms can modify many aspects of cell physiology, rendering experiments that are conducted with such contaminated cells problematic. Chronic Mycoplasma contamination in human monocytic cells lines has been associated with suppressed Toll-like receptor (TLR) function. In contrast, we show here that components derived from a Mycoplasma hyorhinis-infected cell line can activate innate immunity in non-infected primary immune cells. Release of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6 by dendritic cells in response to Mycoplasma hyorhinis-infected cell components was critically dependent on the adapter protein MyD88 but only partially on TLR2. Unlike canonical TLR2 signaling that is triggered in response to the detection of Mycoplasma infection, innate immune activation by components of Mycoplasma-infected cells was inhibited by chloroquine treatment and sensitive to protease treatment. We further show that in plasmacytoid dendritic cells, soluble factors from Mycoplasma hyorhinis-infected cells induce the production of large amounts of IFN-α. We conclude that Mycoplasma hyorhinis-infected cell lines release protein factors that can potently activate co-cultured innate immune cells via a previously unrecognized mechanism, thus limiting the validity of such co-culture experiments

E-β-Ocimene, a Volatile Brood Pheromone Involved in Social Regulation in the Honey Bee Colony (Apis mellifera)

Background: In honey bee colony, the brood is able to manipulate and chemically control the workers in order to sustain their own development. A brood ester pheromone produced primarily by old larvae (4 and 5 days old larvae) was first identified as acting as a contact pheromone with specific effects on nurses in the colony. More recently a new volatile brood pheromone has been identified: E-β-ocimene, which partially inhibits ovary development in workers. [br/] Methodology and Principal Finding: Our analysis of E-β-ocimene production revealed that young brood (newly hatched to 3 days old) produce the highest quantity of E-b-ocimene relative to their body weight. By testing the potential action of this molecule as a non-specific larval signal, due to its high volatility in the colony, we demonstrated that in the presence of E-β-ocimene nest workers start to forage earlier in life, as seen in the presence of real brood. [br/] Conclusions/Significance: In this way, young larvae are able to assign precedence to the task of foraging by workers in order to increase food stores for their own development. Thus, in the complexity of honey bee chemical communication, E-β- ocimene, a pheromone of young larvae, provides the brood with the means to express their nutritional needs to the workers

Complexity Explained

This is the final version. Available on open access at OSF via the DOI in this recordBooklet of the Complexity Explained projec

Construction task allocation through the collective perception of a dynamic environment

Building structures is a remarkable collective process but its automation remains an open challenge. Robot swarms provide a promising solution to this challenge. However, collective construction involves a number of difficulties regarding efficient robots allocation to the different activities, particularly if the goal is to reach an optimal construction rate. In this paper, we study an abstract construction scenario, where a swarm of robots is engaged in a collective perception process to estimate the density of building blocks around a construction site. The goal of this perception process is to maintain a minimum density of blocks available to the robots for construction. To maintain this density, the allocation of robots to the foraging task needs to be adjusted such that enough blocks are retrieved. Our results show a robust collective perception that enables the swarm to maintain a minimum block density under different rates of construction and foraging. Our approach leads the system to stabilize around a state in which the robots allocation allows the swarm to maintain a tile density that is close to or above the target minimum.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedDorigo, M. Stützle, T. Blesa, M. J. Blum, C. Hamann, H. Heinrich, M. K. & Strobel, V. (2020). Swarm Intelligence: 12th International Conference, ANTS 2020, Barcelona, Spain, October 26-28, 2020, Proceedings. Cham: Springer International Publishing AG