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The Evolution of Robot Swarm Capable of Transporting Complex Shape

    Authors

    1 University of Kerbala/ College of Engineering/ Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

    2 Department of Computer Science, University of Namur, Belgium Department of Medical Instruments Techniques Engineering/ AlSafwa University College Department of Computer Science/ College of Computer Science and Information Technology

    3 Office of the University President/ University of Kerbala

,

Document Type : Research Article

Abstract

This paper presents a set of investigations achieved through a simulation involving a swarm of six robots transporting heavy objects of complex shapes that require the cooperative efforts of all six robots. This study focuses on the complexity of the objects’ shapes, starting from a basic shape (i.e., Cuboid) to more complex shapes built from multiple basic shapes (i.e., Star and H-shape). The controller of the robots is a continuous-time recurrent neural network synthesized using artificial evolutionary techniques. The results indicate that evolution could find solutions for each object separately. However, a single generalized neuro-controller could not be obtained. This work unveils an interesting relationship between design choices and the complexity of object shapes. We analyze the effectiveness of cooperative transport strategies in terms of two metrics: the time required to sustain the transport and the quality of transport trajectories (i.e., sinuosity metrics).

Keywords

References
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Kerbala Journal for Engineering Sciences
Volume 4, Issue 1
March 2024
Pages 38-53
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