Srocs: Leveraging stigmergy on a multi-robot construction platform for unknown environments

Abstract

Current implementations of decentralized multi-robot construction systems are limited to construction of rudimentary structures such as walls and clusters, or rely on the use of blueprints for regulation. Building processes that make use of blueprints are unattractive in unknown environments as they can not compensate for heterogeneities, such as irregular terrain. In nature, social insects coordinate the construction of their nests using stigmergy, a mechanism of indirect coordination that is robust and adaptive. In this paper, we propose the design of a multi-robot construction platform called the Swarm Robotics Construction System (SRoCS). The SRoCS platform is designed to leverage stigmergy in order to coordinate multi-robot construction in unknown environments.