article · Science · 2014

Designing Collective Behavior in a Termite-Inspired Robot Construction Team

Justin Werfel, Kirstin Petersen, Radhika Nagpal

Cited by 592Abstract and details only

Abstract

Complex systems are characterized by many independent components whose low-level actions produce collective high-level results. Predicting high-level results given low-level rules is a key open challenge; the inverse problem, finding low-level rules that give specific outcomes, is in general still less understood. We present a multi-agent construction system inspired by mound-building termites, solving such an inverse problem. A user specifies a desired structure, and the system automatically generates low-level rules for independent climbing robots that guarantee production of that structure. Robots use only local sensing and coordinate their activity via the shared environment. We demonstrate the approach via a physical realization with three autonomous climbing robots limited to onboard sensing. This work advances the aim of engineering complex systems that achieve specific human-designed goals.

Cite this paper

APA 7

Werfel, J., Petersen, K., & Nagpal, R. (2014). Designing Collective Behavior in a Termite-Inspired Robot Construction Team. Science, 343(6172), 754–758. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1245842

MLA 9

Werfel, Justin, et al. “Designing Collective Behavior in a Termite-Inspired Robot Construction Team.” Science, vol. 343, no. 6172, 2014, pp. 754–58, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1245842.

Chicago

Werfel, Justin, Kirstin Petersen, and Radhika Nagpal. 2014. “Designing Collective Behavior in a Termite-Inspired Robot Construction Team.” Science 343 (6172): 754–58. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1245842.

Harvard

Werfel, J., Petersen, K. and Nagpal, R. (2014) ‘Designing Collective Behavior in a Termite-Inspired Robot Construction Team’, Science, 343(6172), pp. 754–758. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1245842.

BibTeX

@article{werfel2014designing,
  title = {{Designing Collective Behavior in a Termite-Inspired Robot Construction Team}},
  author = {Werfel, Justin and Petersen, Kirstin and Nagpal, Radhika},
  journal = {Science},
  volume = {343},
  number = {6172},
  pages = {754--758},
  year = {2014},
  doi = {10.1126/science.1245842}
}

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