Virtual pheromones to control mobile robots. A neural network approach

This paper introduces the concept of ldquovirtual pheromonesrdquo for use in controlling autonomous mobile robots. Virtual pheromones are stored in a map of the environment maintained by a ldquopheromone serverrdquo, which acts like a shared memory for all the agents. Autonomous agents communicate with the pheromone server by means of a radio communication link. A model of the virtual pheromone, which includes spatial diffusion and time decay through evaporation is proposed. The pheromone server can be embodied by a regular computer, a handheld device, or an embedded controller carried by a robot. Individual robots, and robotic swarms can be controlled this way. It is emphasized that the whole system, comprising the pheromone server, the communication system, and the robotic agents act like a neural network. This technique can lead to significant simplification of the task of controlling individual robots and robot swarms.