Integration of virtual pheromones for mapping/exploration of environments by using multiple robots

The multiple robot coordination strategies have several advantages when compared to strategies based on a single robot, in terms of flexibility, gain of information and reduction of map building time. In this paper, a local pheromone map integration method is proposed based on the inter-robot observations, considering a method for the environment exploration named the Inverse Ant System-Based Surveillance System strategy (IAS-SS). Simulation results show that the map integration method is efficient, the trials are performed considering a variable number of robots in an indoor environment. Results obtained from several experiments confirm that the integration process is effective and suitable to execute the control of the access to pheromones in a virtual way.