Distributed computing is becoming more and more prevalent in engineering today. Swarm robotics is simply an extension of that, not only dividing the computing power, but also the physical capabilities. This project served as a proof of concept investigation into the feasibility and potential effectiveness of a hierarchical swarm topology (HST), which better mimics the organization of many societal structures. This goal was approached by designing a three-tier robotic swarm as well as a specialized abstract coverage algorithm designed to map an unknown area. Experiments were conducted by modifying various parameters of an HST including the number of tiers and robots per tier. Results supported the original hypothesis that by adding robots, overall runtime and individual workload is reduced.

• This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

Creator

• Jones, Eric Bernard
• Haggerty, Andrew Mark
• Alunni, Nicholas
• Goloski, Richard Alan

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• E-project-042611-121357

Advisor

• Nestinger, Stephen
• Fischer, Gregory S.

Year

• 2011

Date created

• 2011-04-26

Location

• Worcester

Resource type

• Major Qualifying Project

Major

• Robotics Engineering

Rights statement

• In Copyright