Autonomic Pulse Communications for Adaptive Transmission Range in Decentralised Robot Swarms

Abstract— Robot swarms, consisting of large numbers of individual robots collectively working towards a common goal, must be autonomous in order to carry out their task without regular human input. Further, there is a requirement that such swarms be autonomic, capable of self-management to enable operation in distant, complex or changing environments. Underpinning the ability of the swarm to cooperate and adapt is the communication between individual robots. Wireless communication relying on a fixed transmission range may be subject to connectivity loss, restrain robot motion, or be an inefficient use of energy. This research makes use of robot swarm simulation to develop Autonomic Pulse Communication as a means of adaptively selecting a transmission range, based on the existing concept of Pulse Monitoring to allow individuals within the swarm to estimate the local swarm density. The system is able to successfully share data originating in a single robot with the rest of the swarm within an allotted time period. It is also found to be extremely robust to communications loss, completing the task when the chance of a successful message receipt is as low as 5%.