ProteusI: A Flexible and Adaptable LowCost GeneralPurpose MicroRobot Prototype for Swarm Robotics Swarm intelligence is a subfield of artificial intelligence based on the collective behavior of decentralized, selforganized systems comprised of very simple individual interacting locally with one another and with their environment. Such interactions lead to the emergence of intelligent behavior, unknown to the individual agents. One of the most remarkable applications of swarm intelligence is swarm robotics, Swarm robotics is one of the most exciting developments in artificial intelligence during the last few years is swarm robotics, where expensive and sophisticated robots can be replaced by a swarm of simple inexpensive microrobots. In this context, this paper introduces ProteusI, a flexible and adaptable lowcost generalpurpose microrobot prototype especially designed for swarm robotics. The robot has been designed to support the most popular swarm intelligence algorithms by either hardware or software. The paper describes the main components of the microrobot along with some of the most important features to support swarm intelligence algorithms for swarm robotics.

What is A Robot Swarm: A Definition for Swarming Robotics The swarm, a type of multiagent system, has enjoyed a recent surge in popularity within the autonomous robotics field. Despite a variety of theoretical and simulated research work in the area of swarm theory and multiagent artificial intelligence, the practical use of swarms remains limited. Though many limiting factors lie on the technical front, one limiting factor may be a lack of appreciation for swarm capabilities and applications as opposed to those of conventional robotics. To help address the latter limiting factor, this paper proposes a definition of a swarm in the context of autonomous robotics, describes many realworld problems that can be addressed through use of swarms, and details current applications of swarming robotic systems.