Reda Mohamed Mohamed Ghanem
Asst. Lecturer
Comparative Analysis of Simulation Models for Evolving Robot Collective Motion in Industrial Coverage and Inspection Tasks
The 51st International Conference on Computers and Industrial Engineering (CIE51) • 2024
Publication Information
Authors
Reda Ghanem; Ismail M. Ali; Kathryn Kasmarik; Matthew Garratt
Keywords
Swarm Robotics; Simulation-Optimization; Genetic Algorithm; Complete Coverage Problems
Journal
The 51st International Conference on Computers and Industrial Engineering (CIE51)
Publisher
Computers and Industrial Engineering
Volume
2024-December
Issue
Not Available
Pages
2190 - 2199
publication.type
International
Paper Link
Open Link
Supplementary Materials
Not Available
Abstract
This study presents a comprehensive comparative analysis of simulation approaches for optimizing the collective motion behavior of robot swarms, with a focus on industrial applications. We investigate the feasibility of bridging the simulation-reality gap by utilizing fast, low-fidelity simulators for parameter evolution, thereby enhancing the efficiency of real-world deployments. Our analysis examines transferability of optimized swarm parameters derived from two low-fidelity simulators to a high-fidelity robot simulation environment. These low-fidelity simulators are employed to fine-tune motion parameters for both ground and aerial vehicle swarms addressing complex coverage problems. The results indicate that while a differential drive simulator requires significantly more time to generate parameters compared to a point-mass simulator, it yields superior swarming behavior and coverage performance across both robot types in high-fidelity simulations. This work highlights the potential for effective parameter transfer to real-world scenarios, paving the way for advanced applications in areas such as autonomous inspection, environmental monitoring, and search-and-rescue operations.
