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Vol: 54(68) No: 3 / September 2009 Piconet and Scatternet Communication Networks in Swarm Intelligence Simulation with Mobile Robots A. Pásztor Department of Information Technology, Kecskemét College, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Izsáki str. 10, 6000 Kecskemét, Hungary, phone: (+36) 76/516415, e-mail: pasztor.attila@gamf.kefo.hu, web: www.pasztorattila.hu T. Kovács Department of Information Technology, Kecskemét College, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Izsáki str. 10, 6000 Kecskemét, Hungary, phone: (+36) 76/516401, e-mail: kovacs.tamas@gamf.kefo.hu, web: www.gamf.hu/portal/?q=gamf/oktato/kovacs_tamas_dr Z. Istenes Department of Software Technology and Methodology, Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Informatics, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C., 1117 Budapest, Hungary, phone: (+36) 1/381 2139, e-mail: istenes@inf.elte.hu, web: http://quasar.inf.elte.hu/ Keywords: piconet, robots, swarm intelligence, simulation Abstract This study deals with swarm intelligence simulation through simple Lego NXT robots using Piconet and Scatternet networks. In this research, held at the Kecskemét College faculty of GAMF, we simulated the ants’ food collecting habits, in an artificial area, with low-cost NXT robots. These autonomous robots formed groups and collected objects/foods. They communicated with each other via Bluetooth and they used several sensors, such as touch, light and ultrasonic ones, to resolve their tasks. In the first part of the research, the group consisted of one master and three slave robots, similarly to the Piconet network. Then in the second part, we improved the communication system to a better one, allowing communication in a bigger group than a Piconet network, similar to the Scatternet network. This research could be a good starting point to other practical applications, such as, for example rescuing people and values from a polluted area or for solving collective topographical tasks. References [1] E. Bonabeau, M. Dorigo, G. Theraulaz, “Swarm intelligence, From Natural to Artificial Systems”, Oxford University Press, 1999. [2] S. Rutishauser, N. Correll, A. Martinoli, “Collaborative coverage using a swarm of networked miniature robots”, Robotics and Autonomous Systems, 2008, doi:10.1016/j.robot.2008.10.023. [3] M. Kulich, J. Kout, L. Preucil, R. Mazl, J. Chudoba, J. Saarinen, J. Suomela, A. Halme, F. Driewer, H. Baier, K. Schilling, N. Ruangpayoongsak and H. Roth, “PeLoTe - a heterogeneous telematic system for cooperative search and rescue missions”, in Proc. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Sendai, Japan, 2004, 8 pp. [4] M. Dorigo, T. Stützle, “Ant Colony Optimization”, MIT Press, 2004. [5] A. Weitzenfeld, L. Martínez-Gómez, J. P. Francois, A. Levin-Pick, K. Obraczka, J. Boice, “Beyond RoboCup: Ad-Hoc Networking for Autonomous Mobile Robots”, In Proc. International Conference on Mechatronics Technology, 2006, 6 pp. [6] W. Song, X. Li, Y. Wang, W. Wang, “dBBlue: Low Diameter and Self-routing Bluetooth Scatternet”, in Proc. DialM-POMC ’03, San Diego, CA, 2003, 6 pp. [7] G. Augusto Silva Pereira, V. Kumar, M. Fernando Montenegro Campos, “Closed loop motion planning of cooperating mobile robots using graph connectivity”, Robotics and Autonomous Systems, vol. 56, pp. 373–384, 2008. [8] M. J.B. Krieger, J. Billeter, “The call of duty: Self-organised task allocation in a population of up to twelve mobile robots”, Robotics and Autonomous Systems, vol. 30, pp. 65–84, 2000. [9] E. J. Jung, “Creation and maintenance of a communication tree in wireless sensor networks,” Ph.D. Thesis, Texas A & M University, College Station, TX, 2007. |