Modelling interaction patterns and group behaviour in a three-robot team

The research reported in this paper is part of a project investigating distributed control architec- tures for groups of autonomous robots. The focus of this paper is on modelling interaction patterns occurring in robot group behaviour. As such, we do not focus on defining control architectures for individual robots, instead, we focus on individual behaviour patterns to develop a formal theory of group behaviour resulting from multiple robot in- teraction. The problem underlying the research is that concepts relating to group behaviour have to be imposed upon the robots and the understand- ing of these patterns will lead to more efficient control and the realisation of cooperative tasks that would not be possible otherwise. The paper considers a balanced conflict in a system of three robots where action comes to a halt and a slightly deviating conflict in which action is continued in a predictable pattern. We prove how the group behaves in both types of conflicts. We introduce practical constraints of robot design such as limitations of a sensory system and discuss simulations of both types of conflicts incorporating these constraints. Having proved the behaviour of the group starting from these conflicts, the conflicts might be used to test and calibrate robots; we discuss the constraints to meet.