Opinion Dynamics for Decentralized Decision-Making in a Robot Swarm

In this paper, we study how an opinion dynamics model can be the core of a collective decision-making mechanism for swarm robotics. Our main result is that when opinions represent action choices, the opinion associated with the action that is the fastest to execute spreads in the population. Moreover, the spread of the best choice happens even when only a minority is initially advocating for it. The key elements involved in this process are consensus building and positive feedback. A foraging task that involves collective transport is used to illustrate the potential of the proposed approach.

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: ANTSW
• Authors: Marco Antonio Montes de Oca, Eliseo Ferrante, Nithin Mathews, Mauro Birattari, Marco Dorigo
• Keywords: Action Choices, ANTSW 2010, Artificial Intelligence, Collective Decision-making Mechanism, Swarm Robotics