Using a swarm of robots introduces unique challenges in how to simultaneously operate a large number of robots. Testing large-scale swarm algorithms with hardware-in-the-loop is difficult without local, manual intervention. Building tools to handle operations for a large swarm such as charging, positioning, powering, and programming allows developers to use the swarm in an effective manner. Furthermore, building upon these operations to allow a swarm to function without direct human involvement enables it to be usable by local and remote programmers alike. These remotely accessible swarm test beds generally require capabilities such as, automatically executing algorithms, gathering data, and charging the robots as needed. In order to constitute a scalable swarm, it is also crucial that the robots are cost-effective, easy to build, and straightforward to operate. This paper introduces the Coachbot Swarm Testbed, a 100-robot swarm, details how it achieves these crucial operations to function without human intervention, and explains how programmers, both local and remote, can utilize the swarm to test their algorithms.

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Coachbot Swarm Testbed: A 100-Robot Automated and Remotely-Accessible Platform

  • Vaishnavi Dornadula,
  • C. Lin Liu,
  • Marko Vejnovic,
  • Michelle Zhang,
  • Michael Rubenstein

摘要

Using a swarm of robots introduces unique challenges in how to simultaneously operate a large number of robots. Testing large-scale swarm algorithms with hardware-in-the-loop is difficult without local, manual intervention. Building tools to handle operations for a large swarm such as charging, positioning, powering, and programming allows developers to use the swarm in an effective manner. Furthermore, building upon these operations to allow a swarm to function without direct human involvement enables it to be usable by local and remote programmers alike. These remotely accessible swarm test beds generally require capabilities such as, automatically executing algorithms, gathering data, and charging the robots as needed. In order to constitute a scalable swarm, it is also crucial that the robots are cost-effective, easy to build, and straightforward to operate. This paper introduces the Coachbot Swarm Testbed, a 100-robot swarm, details how it achieves these crucial operations to function without human intervention, and explains how programmers, both local and remote, can utilize the swarm to test their algorithms.