PSO-based Distributed Algorithm for Dynamic Task Allocation in a Robotic Swarm

Dynamic task allocation in a robotic swarm is a necessary process for proper management of the swarm. It allows the distribution of the identified tasks to be performed, among the swarm of robots, in such a way that a pre-defined proportion of execution of those tasks is achieved. In this context, there is no central unit to take care of the task allocation. So any algorithm proposal must be distributed, allowing every, and each robot in the swarm to identify the task it must perform. This paper proposes a distributed control algorithm to implement dynamic task allocation in a swarm robotics environment. The algorithm is inspired by the particle swarm optimization. In this context, each robot that integrates the swarm must run the algorithm periodically in order to control the underlying actions and decisions. The algorithm was implemented on ELISA III real swarm robots and extensively tested. The algorithm is effective and the corresponding performance is promising.