Temporal heterogeneity and the value of slowness in robotic systems

Robot teaming is a well-studied area, but little research to date has been conducted on the fundamental benefits of heterogeneous teams and virtually none on temporal heterogeneity, where timescales of the various platforms are radically different. This paper explores this aspect of robot ecosystems consisting of fast and slow robots (SlowBots) working together, including the bio-inspiration for such systems.