1. Flocks of Robots Coordinated Multi-robot Systems Dylan A. Shell Distributed AI Robotics Lab Department of Computer Science & Engineering Texas A&M University Introduction to Computing: CSCE181, 28 th Feb 2012

2. Motivation Let’s start with a practical application

3. Motivation We wish to exploit the mobility of multiple inexpensive robots to provide dynamically reconfigurable and robust communication infrastructure Ten to twenty simple robots Limited sensing Connect moving sources to a gateway

4. Motivation (cont.) Integrated solution involved: Initial Mesh Network Formation – Establish connection & break-out behaviors Throughput Optimization – Smart “Wiggling” Robustness – Bi-connectivity – Self-healing behavior Development work – Custom ad hoc routing: OLSR – Simulation