Target Tracking and Surrounding with Swarm Robots

Abstract

Nowadays the capabilities of autonomous robots have increased rapidly. However there are situations where one robot is not sufficient. In this paper we will introduce a completely distributed algorithm for tracing and surrounding moving objects or targets using homogenous, medium scaled swarm robots based on local sensing. Our new approach is based on the already known concept of basis behaviors as ubiquitous general building blocks for synthesizing artificial group behavior. Our goal was to generate an algorithm based on simple rules in order to protect a territory from a human intruder. In contrast with the common solution which is employing potential fields, we tried to keep our method as simple as possible by utilizing rule-based control mechanism. We will also present our virtual simulation environment and experimental results.