Pheromone Communication Simulation for Mobile Robots Using Java 3D

This paper presents a review of an on-going simulation project that aims to simulate pheromone communication in a group of mobile robots. A Java 3D simulation tool, PheromoneSimBot has been developed to serve the purpose of visual modelling and simulating the behaviours of independent robots to accomplish tasks employing pheromone communication. In this simulation, a group of mobile robots incorporate facilities for generating and detecting a pheromone chemical. Each robot receiving pheromone information is formulated to be able to constantly adapt to changes and make decisions by responding to the current local stimuli. With these aims in view, the generated robot models are calibrated to match the structure and sensory capabilities of the real robots. In the simulation, a summary of important actions can also be recorded. This recorded data can then be used to scrutinize the performance of behaviour-based mobile robots within a simulated environment.