LumiBots

2016

Traditional architecture relies on construction processes that require careful planning and strictly defined outcomes at every stage; yet in nature, millions of relatively simple social insects collectively build large complex nests without any global coordination or blueprint. Here, we present a testbed designed to explore how emergent structures can be assembled using swarms of active robots manipulating passive building blocks in two dimensions. The robot swarm is based on the toy “bristlebot”; a simple vibrating motor mounted on top of bristles to propel the body forward. Since shape largely determines the details of physical interactions, the robot behavior is altered by carefully designing its geometry instead of uploading a digital program. Through this mechanical programming, we plan to investigate how to tune emergent structural properties such as the size and temporal stability of assemblies. Alongside a physical testbed with 200 robots, this work involves comprehensive si...

2007

GlowBots are small wheeled robots that develop complex relationships between each other and with their owner. They develop attractive patterns which are affected both by user interaction and communication between the robots. The project shows how robots can interact with humans in subtle and sustainable ways for entertainment and enjoyment.

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2010

In this paper we present an experimental setup to model the pheromone trail based foraging behaviour of ants using a special phosphorescent glowing paint. We have built two custom addons for the e-puck robot that allow for trail laying and following on the glowing floor, as well as a way for the robots to mimic the ants capability of using polarization patterns as a means of navigation. Using simulations we show that our approach allows for efficient pathfinding between nest and potential food sources. Experimental results show that our trail and sun compass add-on boards are accurate enough to allow a single robot to lay and follow a trail repeatedly.

2002

In this paper we present a set of experiments in which a group of simulated robots were evolved for the ability to aggregate and to move together toward a light target. Evolved individuals display interesting behavioural patterns in which groups of robots act as a single unit. Moreover, groups of identical evolved individuals display primitive forms of "situated" specializations in which different individuals play different behavioural functions according to the circumstances. Overall, the results presented in the paper demonstrates that the evolutionary method, by allowing the synthesis of behaviours that emerge from the interaction between the robots and the environment and between different individual robots, is a powerful method for synthesizing collective behaviour.

2014

The paper addresses the rationale of a process that produces artworks made by a swarm of robots. This process relies on the interaction, though the environment, of a set of robots designed to create spatiotemporal patterns from an initial homogeneous medium (the canvas). Inspired by social insect societies, the approach presented here exploits robot-robot and robot-environment interactions to develop emergent behaviour. The swarm intelligence concept is crucial to this approach because the viability of the team (group of robots) is required in order to achieve the viability of the individual. Without any central coordination or plan, the group of robots produces its artworks on the basis of a data-driven (bottom-up) process. Moreover, each robot can be viewed as an autonomous agent because it has on board all the resources required to provide the global outcome of the experiment, including sensors, actuators, and the controller, which demonstrates a reactive behaviour by reinforcing...

Science robotics, 2018

Morphogenesis allows millions of cells to self-organize into intricate structures with a wide variety of functional shapes during embryonic development. This process emerges from local interactions of cells under the control of gene circuits that are identical in every cell, robust to intrinsic noise, and adaptable to changing environments. Constructing human technology with these properties presents an important opportunity in swarm robotic applications ranging from construction to exploration. Morphogenesis in nature may use two different approaches: hierarchical, top-down control or spontaneously self-organizing dynamics such as reaction-diffusion Turing patterns. Here, we provide a demonstration of purely self-organizing behaviors to create emergent morphologies in large swarms of real robots. The robots achieve this collective organization without any self-localization and instead rely entirely on local interactions with neighbors. Results show swarms of 300 robots that self-construct organic and adaptable shapes that are robust to damage. This is a step toward the emergence of functional shape formation in robot swarms following principles of self-organized morphogenetic engineering.

Leonardo, 2011

Thi s paper presents artwork that was inspired by a computational model called Swarm Grammars. In this work, the "liveliness" of swarms is combined with the generative capabilities of more established developmental representations. Three of the authors followed their individual artistic approaches to explore the creativity and dynamics of Swarm Grammar structures. One chose to breed structures interactively to compose virtual spaces. The second explores the movement and construction dynamics of interactive swarms. The third artist translated developmental processes of Swarm Grammars into interactions of paint particles driven by friction and gravity.

Artificial Life, 2003

In this paper we present a set of experiments in which a group of simulated robots were evolved for the ability to aggregate and to move together toward a light target. Evolved individuals display interesting behavioural patterns in which groups of robots act as a single unit. Moreover, groups of identical evolved individuals display primitive forms of "situated" specializations in which different individuals play different behavioural functions according to the circumstances. Overall, the results presented in the paper demonstrates that the evolutionary method, by allowing the synthesis of behaviours that emerge from the interaction between the robots and the environment and between different individual robots, is a powerful method for synthesizing collective behaviour.

Artificial Life 14: Proceedings of the Fourteenth International Conference on the Synthesis and Simulation of Living Systems, 2014

We present an interactive simulation of Swarm Grammars (SGs). SGs are an extension of L-Systems, where symbols of the production system are considered agents, whereas the given production rules determine their differentiation or reproduction. Assigning boid properties to the SG agents yields spatial dynamics apt to building structures in space and to collaborate stigmergically. In the presented interactive simulation, we put an emphasis on accessible interactive visuals for shaping the initial configuration of the simulation, to program the agents' perceptual and productive behavioural abilities, to dynamically drive developmental stages and to fine-tune visual structural properties such as colouring and scaling of the utilised developmental building blocks. Our system has been successfully deployed to promote swarm dynamics and developmental processes as important aspects of Artificial Life in a playful way. We present results from deploying the simulation in the context of an event to promote STEM research among high-school girls.

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2010

We present a set of experiments in which a robotic swarm manages to collectively explore the environment, forming a path to navigate between two target areas, which are too distant to be perceived by an agent at the same time. Robots within the path continuously move back and forth between the two locations, exploiting visual interactions with their neighbours. The global group behaviour is obtained through an evolutionary process and presents emergent properties like robustness, path optimisation and scalability, which recall ants trail formation.