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Flocking with Oblivious Robots

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Stabilization, Safety, and Security of Distributed Systems (SSS 2016)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNTCS,volume 10083))

Abstract

We propose a new self-stabilizing flocking algorithm for oblivious robot networks, and prove its correctness. With this algorithm, a flock head emerges from a uniform flock of robots, and the algorithm allows those robots to follow the head, whatever its direction on the plane. Robots are oblivious in that they do not recall the result of their previous computations and do not share a common coordinate system.

The novelty of our approach consists in identifying the sufficient conditions to set on the flock pattern placement and the velocity of the flock-head (rotation, translation or speed), such that the flock head and the flock pattern are both preserved while the flock moves (following the head). Additionally, our system is both self-healing and self-stabilizing. In case the head leaves (e.g., disappears or is damaged) the flock agrees on a new head and follows its trajectory. Also, robots keep no record of their previous computations and we make no assumption on their initial position. The step complexity of our solution is O(n).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The curent work is supported by the ANR project R-DISCOVER that brings together roboticians and computer scientiests.

  2. 2.

    A round is a fragment of execution where each robot in the system executes its actions.

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Acknowledgements

The last author would like to thank Ted Herman for helpful discussions related to flocking in biological systems that inspired the current specification and also the potential use of the energy constraints in order to conserve the head energy. We also would like to thank Shlomi Dolev for pointing us [1] and [4] that investigate the problem in a different model.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. LIP6, Univ. Pierre & Marie Curie - Paris 6, LIP6-CNRS UMR 7606, Paris, France

    Davide Canepa & Maria Potop-Butucaru

  2. School of Information Science, Japan Advanced Institute in Science and Technology (JAIST), Nomi, Japan

    Xavier Defago

  3. Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Nagoya, Japan

    Taisuke Izumi

Authors
  1. Davide Canepa
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  2. Xavier Defago
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  3. Taisuke Izumi
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  4. Maria Potop-Butucaru
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria Potop-Butucaru .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

    Borzoo Bonakdarpour

  2. LIP6, INRIA, UPMC Sorbonne Universities, Paris, France

    Franck Petit

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Canepa, D., Defago, X., Izumi, T., Potop-Butucaru, M. (2016). Flocking with Oblivious Robots. In: Bonakdarpour, B., Petit, F. (eds) Stabilization, Safety, and Security of Distributed Systems. SSS 2016. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 10083. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49259-9_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49259-9_8

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-49258-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-49259-9

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