Social Integration of Robots into Groups of Cockroaches to Control Self-Organized Choices

Abstract

Collective behavior based on self-organization has been shown in group-living animals from insects to vertebrates. These findings have stimulated engineers to investigate approaches for the coordination of autonomous multirobot systems based on self-organization. In this experimental study, we show collective decision-making by mixed groups of cockroaches and socially integrated autonomous robots, leading to shared shelter selection. Individuals, natural or artificial, are perceived as equivalent, and the collective decision emerges from nonlinear feedbacks based on local interactions. Even when in the minority, robots can modulate the collective decision-making process and produce a global pattern not observed in their absence. These results demonstrate the possibility of using intelligent autonomous devices to study and control self-organized behavioral patterns in group-living animals.

Collective Behavior Coordination with Predictive Mechanisms

“…Moreover, it helps explain why individuals of biological swarms, such as fireflies and deep-sea fish, do not communicate very frequently all along but just now and then during the whole dynamic process. This may be explained by the fact that predictive intelligence embedded in each individual can compensate for the need of frequent communication, which coincides with the flock's batch communication phenomena observed recently [35], [39]. …”

Data‐driven identification of group dynamics for motion prediction and control

“…Also, the models can be used to drive groups of robots to mimic the behavior of observed groups. This may be useful in reproducing collaborative behaviors exhibited in natural systems, or in producing decoy robots to participate with natural or engineered groups, and even to influence group behavior (Halloy et al, 2007).…”

Robot traders can prevent extreme events in complex stock markets

“…The controller of individual robots is designed using reactive, behaviorbased techniques. Socially integrated autonomous robots, perceived as congeners by the group, and acting as interactive decoys will be able to control self-organized choices [5].…”