L-system-driven self-assembly for swarm robotics

Abstract

In this paper, an assembly swarm algorithm, that will generate microscopic rules from a macroscopic description of complex structures, will be presented. The global structure will be described in a formal way using L-systems (Lindenmayer systems). The proposed algorithm is mainly parallel and exhibit parsimony at microscopic level, being robust and adaptable. In addition, a comparation between a swarm with centralized control and our distributed swarm algorithm will be provided, comparing the time need by the swarm to be assembled and the number of messages exchanged between agents. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.