Robots search randomly throughout the environment, then locate the chain randomly once carrying a puck. Modifications of the basic behaviors discussed above allow for adjustment of the chain to various factors in the environment. Following Chains Research will be conducted on effective use of chains in various environments. Issues of traffic flow along the chain must also be investigated, especially such questions as that of unidirectional vs. bidirectional traffic on each side of the chain. The decision of a chain follower to join the chain will be examined, especially the question of whether it is better to have a robot join the chain because it cannot perform some other task, or because it has successfully performed some other task and can bias the direction of chain formation towards the location of its success.
Communication is carried out amongst the links, and followers all follow the same pathway.
This is one of the simplest types of systems based on the concept of robot chaining. The possibilities resulting from branching chains and explicit communication between chain links and followers are quite wide-ranging. Our previous work applied the notion of active representations to mobile robot navigation. The map is a decentralized network of behaviors connected by topological links which also serve as communication channels between behaviors. The links are used to spread activation from any goal in order to find optimal paths within the map.