Swarm Robotics

In nature, it is possible to observe a cooperative behaviour in all animals, since, according to

Charles Darwin¿s theory, every being, from ants to human beings, form groups in which most

individuals work for the common good. However, although study of dozens of social species has

been done for a century, details of how and why cooperation evolved remain to be worked out.

Actually, cooperative behaviour has been studied from different points of view.

Swarm robotics is a new approach that emerged on the field of artificial swarm intelligence, as well

as the biological studies of insects (i.e. ants and other fields in nature) which coordinate their

actions to accomplish tasks that are beyond the capabilities of a single individual. In particular,

swarm robotics is focused on the coordination of decentralised, self-organised multi-robot systems

in order to describe such a collective behaviour as a consequence of local interactions with one

another and with their environment.

This book has only provided a partial picture of the field of swarm robotics by focusing on practical

applications. The global assessment of the contributions contained in this book is reasonably

positive since they highlighted that it is necessary to adapt and remodel biological strategies to cope

with the added complexity and problems that arise when robot individuals are considered.