Energy-efficient indoor search by swarms of simulated flying robots without global information |
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Authors: | Timothy Stirling Steffen Wischmann Dario Floreano |
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Institution: | 1.Laboratory of Intelligent Systems (LIS),Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL),Lausanne,Switzerland |
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Abstract: | Swarms of flying robots are a promising alternative to ground-based robots for search in indoor environments with advantages
such as increased speed and the ability to fly above obstacles. However, there are numerous problems that must be surmounted
including limitations in available sensory and on-board processing capabilities, and low flight endurance. This paper introduces
a novel strategy to coordinate a swarm of flying robots for indoor exploration that significantly increases energy efficiency.
The presented algorithm is fully distributed and scalable. It relies solely on local sensing and low-bandwidth communication,
and does not require absolute positioning, localisation, or explicit world-models. It assumes that flying robots can temporarily
attach to the ceiling, or land on the ground for efficient surveillance over extended periods of time. To further reduce energy
consumption, the swarm is incrementally deployed by launching one robot at a time. Extensive simulation experiments demonstrate
that increasing the time between consecutive robot launches significantly lowers energy consumption by reducing total swarm
flight time, while also decreasing collision probability. As a trade-off, however, the search time increases with increased
inter-launch periods. These effects are stronger in more complex environments. The proposed localisation-free strategy provides
an energy efficient search behaviour adaptable to different environments or timing constraints. |
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Keywords: | |
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