ANTI-SWARMING FROM THE SWARM ROBOTICS PERSPECTIVE

This study represents the first known attempt to formulate a template for a complete anti-swarming strategy that can be employed against adversary robotic swarms. This research is important as swarm robotics technology will be widely available in the near future and it would be naïve to assume that this highly capable technology exclusively will be employed in “constructive contexts”. The proposed strategy was devised by means of the Grounded Theory Method and building on state-ofthe-art methods, which have been successfully employed against destructive natural swarms. A series of future directions of research and activities, which ensure that required safeguards can be implemented are also proposed. INTRODUCTION Natural swarms consist of large groups of individuals which interact locally to achieve shared goals. The term refers to all forms of collective behaviors even though it frequently is associated with coordinated movement in space [1]. Studies on natural swarms have recently given rise to Swarm Intelligence (SI) where groups of simple autonomous individuals interact in virtual space to reveal solutions to problems that are difficult to resolve with traditional engineering methods. The original Ant Colony Optimization [2] and Particle Swarm Optimization [1] algorithms represent two of the earliest attempts to formulate SI technology inspired by the path seeking behaviors observed in ants and the flocking behavior of birds. A broad range of advanced SI techniques have been formulated since then, including the Firefly [3, 4], Wolf Pack [5] and Locust Swarm [6] algorithms. Strategies that enable multiple swarms to coordinate their activities [7] have also been proposed. The reader can refer to [8, 9] for comprehensive overviews of recent advancements in the field. Over the last decade Swarm Robotics (SR) has emerged from the application of SI concepts to multi-robot systems. SR focuses on “physical embodiment and realistic interactions among the individuals themselves and also between the individuals and the environment”, while the use of low cost expendable individuals is encouraged [10]. SR systems are scalable, flexible and robust towards system failure [11], which makes them attractive in a broad range of high impact application areas including exploration, maintenance and search & rescue. SR research is therefore expected to progress rapidly in the coming years [12].