Ants Inspire the Development of Robots with a System for Swarm Robotics Applications

A system for pheromone-based communication inspired by pheromone communication in ants

Pheromone-based swarm communications

A research team at the University of Manchester recently introduced a new technique for swarm robotics applications inspired by the use of pheromones among insect populations. Pheromones are chemical substances that animals and humans release into their surrounding environment, which can elicit a specific set of behaviors in other animals.

Robots normally communicate using wireless systems like radio or infrared frequencies. The new pheromone-based communication called COS-phi (Communication System via Pheromone) is faster, more cost-efficient, reliable, and precise.

For instance, the release of pheromones can prompt mating behavior, alert other animals of a dangerous situation, delineate a territory, or signal the presence of food. The researchers tried to artificially replicate how social insects, such as ants, use pheromones, with the aim of achieving more effective communication among teams of robots.

“Our main idea was to develop a bio-inspired communication system based on social animals’ pheromone communication systems,” Farshad Arvin, one of the researchers who carried out the study, said. “More specifically, we wanted to emulate how ants release pheromones and the behaviors that follow. We use the developed system in swarm robotics applications, and we are now investigating the possibility of testing it in real-world settings.”

COS-phi works by attaching a light sensor to each robot. The robots are then placed onto an LCD screen which can be changed and controlled. The wheeled robots are turned on and allowed to roam freely. A “pheromone” is released on the LCD screen in the form of a visual light trail. When the robots pick up the trail, they begin to follow it and move together in a swarm.

Pheromone-based Swarm communications in robots | University of Lincoln

“We developed a very realistic model of a pheromone system and systematically investigated the effects of various parameters in the performance of the individual robots and the swarm,” Arvin said. “In addition, our paper introduces a robust, open-source experimental setup that can be used to implement more complex behaviors typically observed in social insects.”

In the future, the hope is to have the robots release these “pheromones” themselves. There is a wide range of potential uses for these swarming robots. One possibility is having multiple micro-machines coming together to create much larger, intricate objects. Another possibility is being able to send a swarm of robots into collapsed buildings to rescue trapped people.

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