Systems of Systems Communication for heterogeneous independent operable systems

Swarms of robots in heterogeneous environments working together in a System of Systems, raise the need for suitable inter-swarm communication. This paper presents a potentially viable solution. Communication for land swarms was found to be successful through ZigBee Radio Modems, and a suitable counterpart is necessary for underwater swarms in a system of systems. An extensible standards based protocol to accommodate different types of data was developed for use among the swarm robots. This communication system allows for dynamic swarm expansion, where new members can be added to the swarm family. This enables coordination among robots within and between swarms in a system of systems framework.