Developing a Mobile App to Control and Enhance Communication for Swarm Robotics

Swarm robotics entails the collective motion of multiple robots to perform tasks efficiently. Integrating an advanced software interface to communicate and coordinate each robot would enhance the swarm movement. In the project's initial phase, nine EV3 robots were assembled and each robot was equipped with an infrared sensor. The analysis showed that the swarm robotic moments were just 20% effective and success to reach the expected destination was 40%. In Phase 2 a homogeneous motion was demonstrated by relying on its information on the surrounding robots to move collectively. LAFVIN 4WD Smart Robot Cars were used, and the line tracking and obstacle avoidance methodology was implemented using IR sensors and a Python-based controlling program using Arduino. Motion analysis was performed to check the behavior of the robots that were plotted as a function of their position. 95% of the robots reached their destination and overall swarm movement accuracy was about 80%. Our Phase 1 and 2 tests and their results point to the fact that the software enhancements would support the required swarm movement. An app was developed, which can be used in Android devices for effective communication between robots using the HC-06 Bluetooth module. This communication allows the robots to interact effectively and were able to track the coordinates of the robots and send the signals back to them for enhancing their swarm movement with improved line tracking and obstacle avoidance. To develop the app, an MIT App Inventor was employed to design and implement backend and frontend software development.