Swarm robotics uses many simple robots to perform complex tasks, similar to a colony of ants or bees. It is scalable and has high fault tolerance. Applications include mapping, search and rescue, mining, firefighting, and even human medicine.
Swarm robotics is an approach to robotics that emphasizes many simple robots instead of a single complex robot. A swarm of robots has a lot in common with a colony of ants or a swarm of bees. No individual in the group is highly intelligent or complex, but combined they can accomplish difficult tasks. Swarm robotics has been an experimental field, but many practical applications have been proposed.
A traditional robot often needs complex components and considerable computer processing power to perform its assigned tasks. In swarm robotics, each robot is relatively simple and inexpensive. As a group, these simple machines cooperate to perform advanced tasks that would otherwise require a more powerful and more expensive robot.
Using many simple bots has other benefits as well. Robot swarms have a high fault tolerance, meaning they will continue to perform well if some of the individual units fail or are destroyed. Swarms are also scalable, so swarm size can be increased or decreased as needed.
One use that researchers have demonstrated for swarm robotics is mapping. An individual robot would constantly need to keep track of its location, remember where it had been, and figure out how to avoid obstacles as it explored the entire area. A swarm of robots could be programmed simply to avoid obstacles by keeping in touch with other members of the swarm. Data from all robots in the swarm is then combined into one map.
Swarm robotics has been an emerging field and presented unique challenges to researchers. Programming a robot swarm is different from other types of programming. The distributed computing model, which uses many computers to work on one large task, is somewhat similar. Unlike distributed computing, however, each individual in swarm-style robotics deals with unique stimuli. Each robot, for example, is in a different place at any given time.
Some approaches to swarm robotics use a control unit that coordinates other robots. Other approaches use techniques borrowed from nature to give the swarm itself a kind of collective intelligence. Much of the current research in the field focuses on finding the most efficient way to use a swarm.
The problems of organizing a swarm haven’t stopped people from imagining what swarm robotics might one day offer. Some scientists imagine a swarm of tiny microbots used to explore other planets. Other proposed uses include search and rescue missions, mining and even firefighting. When used with nanobots, robots of microscopic size, swarm robotics could also be used in human medicine.
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