Robots that Sync and Swarm: A Proof of Concept in ROS 2
It provides a proof of concept for applying swarmalators to real-world robotic systems, with potential uses in monitoring and entertainment, though it is incremental as it adapts an existing model.
This paper implemented and tested the swarmalator model, which couples synchronization and swarming, on mobile robots using ROS 2, demonstrating that all theoretical space-time patterns can be reproduced in practice with small robots.
A unified mathematical model for synchronisation and swarming has recently been proposed. Each system entity, called a "swarmalator", coordinates its internal phase and location with the other entities in a way that these two attributes are mutually coupled. This paper realises and studies, for the first time, the concept of swarmalators in a technical system. We adapt and extend the original model for its use with mobile robots and implement it in the Robot Operating System 2 (ROS 2). Simulations and experiments with small robots demonstrate the feasibility of the model and show its potential to be applied to real-world systems. All types of space-time patterns achieved in theory can be reproduced in practice. Applications can be found in monitoring, exploration, entertainment and art, among other domains.