Thesis (MScEng (Electrical and Electronic Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Swarm intelligence research was inspired by biological systems in nature. Working ants and
bees has captivated researchers for centuries, with the ant playing a major role in shaping the
future of robotic swarm applications. The ants foraging activity can be adapted for different
applications of robotic swarm intelligence. Numerous researchers have conducted theoretical
analysis and experiments on the ants foraging activities and communication styles.
Combining this information with modern reconfigurable computing opens the door to more
complex behaviour with improved system dynamics. Reconfigurable computing has
numerous applications in swarm intelligence such as true hardware parallel processing,
dynamic power save algorithms and dynamic peripheral changes to the CPU core.
In this research a brief study is made of swarm intelligence and its applications. The ants'
foraging activities were studied in greater detail with the emphasis on a layered control system
designed implementation in a robotic agent. The robotic agent’s hardware was designed using
a partial self reconfigurable FPGA as the main building element. The hardware was designed
with the emphasis on system flexibility for swarm application drawing attention to power
reduction and battery life. All of this was packaged into a differential drive chassis designed
specifically for this project. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die motivering vir swerm robotika kom van die natuur. Vir eeue fassineer swerm insekte
soos bye en miere navorsers. Dit is verstommend hoe ’n groep klein en nietige insekte sulke
groot take kan verrig. Die mier speel ‘n belangrike rol en is die sentrale tema van menige
publikasies. Die mier se kos-soek aktiwiteit kan aangepas word vir swerm robotika
toepassings. Hierdie aktiwiteit vervat verskeie sleutel konsepte wat belangrik is vir robotika
toepassings.
Deur bv. die mier se aktiwiteite te kombineer met dinamies herkonfigureerbare hardeware,
kan meer komplekse gedrag bestudeer word. Die stelsel dinamika verbeter ook, aangesien dit
nou moontlik is om sekere take in parallel uit te voer. Deur ’n interne prosesseerder in die
herkonfigureerbare hardeware in te sluit, is dit nou vir die stelsel moontlik om homself te
verander tydens taak verrigting. Komplekse krag bestuur gedrag is ook moontlik deurdat die
prosesseerder die spoed en rand apparaat kan verander soos benodig. ‘n Verdere voordeel is
dat die stelsel aanpasbaar is en dus vir verskeie navorsingsprojekte gebruik kan word.
In hierdie navorsing word ’n literatuur studie van swerm robotika gemaak en word daar ook
na toepassings gekyk. Met die klem op praktiese implementering, word die mier se kos-soek
aktiwiteit in detail ondersoek deur gebruik te maak van ’n laag beheerstelsel. In hierdie laag
beheerstelsel verteenwoordig elke laag ’n hoër vlak gedrag. Stelsel aanpasbaarheid en lae
kragverbruik speel ’n deurslaggewende rol in die ontwerp, en om hierdie rede vorm ’n FPGA
die hart van die sisteem.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:sun/oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/6814 |
| Date | 03 1900 |
| Creators | Heath, Gerhardus |
| Contributors | Smit, W., University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. |
| Publisher | Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en_ZA |
| Detected Language | Unknown |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 131 p. : ill. |
| Rights | University of Stellenbosch |
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