Design and Development of Platform for Implementation of Swarm Robotics

Project Title

Design and Development of Platform for Implementation of Swarm Robotics

Project Area of Specialization RoboticsProject Summary

to learn swarming and make their own applications [4].

This project is a design and development of a team of Swarm Robots that works in decentralized coordination and communicate locally to fulfill tasks. This project demonstrates a team of three robots that have been set to communicate on radio frequency channels to communicate much like termites or fireflies. The idea is inspired through Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm. This algorithm explains how ants start locally communicating with each other and end up achieving global synchronization. Each one is in continuous pursuit of the other by detection of pheromone, an enzyme ants discharge as they move.

Project Objectives

After studying basic ideology of swarming, a set of objectives was laid out. These objectives include the following:

• To develop a decentralized communication system flexible enough to include artificial swarm robots in factorials to the swarm
• To achieve synchronous behavior among the said autonomous robots
• To create a miniature hardware model for this swarming capability with addition of multiple sensing components for user to choose from
• To create a user-friendly environment via a graphical user interface; this may be used to initiate processes

Project Implementation Method

Project Implementation consists of following steps:

1. Hardware Optimization

As one of the basic stages of any electronics project, it was important to begin with the analysis of the hardware to be used in this project. Since this project greatly deals with user-friendliness and versatility, choosing appropriate components was a crucial stage. Alongside that, it was also important to devise a mechanical structure that may help extend this theme of project to greater levels in the future. Once everything is already made, it is difficult to modify and hence, great amount of time and strategic planning goes into this stage of the process.

1. 1. Components Selection

For the design and development of a miniaturized swarm robot the hardware was the most important part of creating this platform. Instead of restricting the working process of swarm communication by hardware restriction, the decision was to make all the robots equally capable and identical each and every aspect. For this the processing speed of the microcontroller, the torque of the motors used, the obstacle detection sensors and last but the most important part the communication module were taking into account and how to integrate all of them so that these components are compatible with each other.

1. 1. Mechanical Structure Analysis and Selection

Mechanical body design is one of the most vital parts of a project which contribute in the successful proposition of the concept it contains. Robotics bases itself on two main pillars and mechanics is one of them. The design criterion was based on

1. Weight of the body
2. Size and dimensions of the body adequate for complete component placement

The aim was to keep the weight of the body minimum and hence its movement accurate with minimum inertia. The dimensions and shape of the robots was chosen to be small, hexagonal structure which can easily mount the said components on it.

1. 1. 1. Shape and Dimensions

After multiple analysis of how a robot may perform in versatility, it was decided that the structure of the module is to be hexagonal in shape. This structure adds to the variety of applications that may be applied on this project.

1. Robot can move or turn in six different directions. It means that robot can detect obstacle from six sides and do minute detections as well.

1. 1. Swarm Communication Model

Essentially, the aim is to be able to provide open-source software to users that may be able to modify this project as per their need. Hence, software-wise, this project has a vast range of applicability. The communication model formed in this project involves the algorithm described in Figure .Three things that were kept in mind when forming this algorithm are:

1. There must not be a single dictator that sends command to its followers
2. Each Robot must be aware of their own environment as well as the environment of the module they are following

Benefits of the Project

In its present form, this robotic system is applicable in a number of applications from simple to more complex. Such as,

• Self-organizing systems
• Obstacle Avoiding robots
• Self-Balancing robots
• Voice-command recognizing robot
• Maze-solving robots

The applications in this form are vast and yet easy to apply. As a demonstration to this project, maze-solving algorithms were created in order to show how coordination of this form is possible. The robots, given an environment only available for the swarm robots, may also organize themselves and move as one entity.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

Technical details of finals deliverable are given below:

• As mentioned earlier. swarm cluster consists of 3 bodies
• Two bodies have arduino nano as micrcontroller while 3rd body has arduino uno for the same purpose
• Each body contains 6 IR obstacle avoidnece sensors, 1 gyroscope, two servo motors and two wheels, one DC-DC buck convertor and one lipo battery of 4000mAH and 7.5 volts
• One body contains a voice recognition module
• Each body has NRF24l01 module for communication between robots.
• Moreover, each body has slot for time of flight sensor
• All bodies are in hexagonal shape because of swarm implementation
• Two bodies are made of PVC plastic and one body is made of wood.
• The length of diagonal of each hexagonal body is 9cm.
• Each robot body consists of two layers
• The upper layer has each side of 4.5cm or 45mm in length. The length of diagonal is 9cm or 90mm. There are 2 bigger holes of diameter 1.0610mm. These holes can be used add more layers on to this body or add components such as the solar cell for ease of recharge ability. There are six smaller holes of diameter 0.2mm. These holes are used for screws. The width of upper layer is 0.9cm or 9mm.

• The bottom layer is a combination of two parts.

1. Hexagonally shaped layer
2. Truncated rectangular wall

• Dimensions of the bottom layer is similar to the upper layer except the width of bottom layer is 0.6cm or 6mm. Length of wall is 5.5cm and width of wall is 4.5cm. Length of truncated rectangle is 4.5cm and width is 2cm. Moreover, wall has 4 holes of diameter of 0.4cm.

The areas of swarming achieved in this project include the following:

1. Each member of the swarm is aware of its own environment
2. There is no single dictator in the swarm that collectively commands the rest of the system
3. Members may be added in to the swarm dynamically
4. The system created is self-healing, which means on absence of a module, the rest of the swarm re-allocates resources and continues the task
5. The platform, both hardware and software, is expandable

Final Deliverable of the Project HW/SW integrated systemType of Industry Education , Security , Telecommunication Technologies RoboticsSustainable Development Goals Good Health and Well-Being for People, Quality Education, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, Life Below Water, Life on LandRequired Resources

Item Name	Type	No. of Units	Per Unit Cost (in Rs)	Total (in Rs)
			Total in (Rs)	66645
Lipo Battery	Equipment	3	2300	6900
IR Sensor	Equipment	18	80	1440
Gyrometer	Equipment	3	520	1560
Communication Module	Equipment	6	320	1920
Vocie Recognition	Equipment	3	345	1035
Motors	Equipment	8	750	6000
Time of Flight Sensor	Equipment	3	930	2790
Wheels	Equipment	3	300	900
Microprosser arduino nano	Equipment	6	460	2760
Microprosser arduino uno	Equipment	1	620	620
USB Cable	Equipment	5	230	1150
PCB Fabrication	Equipment	3	5750	17250
2 plastic Body Fabrication	Equipment	2	9000	18000
1 wood body fabrication	Equipment	1	2000	2000
pamphlet	Miscellaneous	50	40	2000
Flex	Miscellaneous	320	1	320