2014/02/14 by Justin Werfel, Kirstin Petersen, Radhika Nagpal · 6 citations
Computer Science · Engineering · Psychology · #Anthropology #Artificial intelligence #Collective behavior #Computer science #Distributed Control Multi-Agent Systems #Human–computer interaction #Modular Robots and Swarm Intelligence #Psychology #Robot #Robotic Path Planning Algorithms #Sociology
paper · doi:10.1126/science.1245842
openalex publication_date 2014/02/14 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
Complex systems are characterized by many independent components whose low-level actions produce collective high-level results. Predicting high-level results given low-level rules is a key open challenge; the inverse problem, finding low-level rules that give specific outcomes, is in general still less understood. We present a multi-agent construction system inspired by mound-building termites, solving such an inverse problem. A user specifies a desired structure, and the system automatically generates low-level rules for independent climbing robots that guarantee production of that structure. Robots use only local sensing and coordinate their activity via the shared environment. We demonstrate the approach via a physical realization with three autonomous climbing robots limited to onboard sensing. This work advances the aim of engineering complex systems that achieve specific human-designed goals.