Adaptive Task Allocation for Planar Construction Using Response Threshold Model

Abstract

In this paper, a swarm of simulated robots is used to construct an annulus (ring shape) in a distributed behavior approach. We assume robots can do simple arithmetic operations, and sense the projected scalar field, which guides a swarm of robots in their construction task. We are using fixed thresholds in this scalar field to specify the contour of the desired annulus. This work is inspired by insects like termites. Although they have poor vision, they can guide each other and communicate using chemical scents called pheromones, so they are well organized and adapt to environmental changes. To construct the annulus, we need to allocate resources and distribute tasks among the robots. We present three methods to show how co-ordination is done in the swarm. Robots switch between tasks autonomously based on a calculated response function. Simulation experiments are performed to show the differences among these methods. These results show that using local communication among robots outperforms global and no-direct communication in terms of time steps which are required to construct the annulus.