Intelligence through Interactions: Underwater Robot Society for Distributed211 Operations in Closed Aquatic Environment

摘要

Nowadays, robotics is moving towards adaptive, learning and cooperative robots.211u001eThese robots constantly interact not only with the dynamic environment, but also 211u001ewith each other and with the persons using them. This large variety of 211u001einteractions will produce behaviors superior to those performed by current 211u001eindustrial robots. The robots will be equipped to survive as a part of a complex 211u001esystem, where cooperation is essential for their survival. The collective 211u001eintelligence emerging from these interactions justifies calling these systems, at 211u001etheir highest level, robot societies, based on the analogy to structures found in 211u001enatural environment. This thesis describes a generic framework for multi-robot 211u001esystems. The framework is no longer just a research interest or technical 211u001echallenge but very much a practical demand. As technical readiness increases 211u001erapidly, especially in sensor technology and locomotion structures, the 211u001eapplication domain for robotic systems in general widens accordingly. Many of 211u001ethese future tasks can be performed more efficiently with multiple robots and 211u001esome of them can only be accomplished with cooperative multirobot systems.