Abstract The field of swarm robotics is surveyed from a computerscience perspective. Both the historical basis and the current research of the field are summarized. Swarm robotics is a novel discipline and approach which is inspired by social insects. By this approach, large numbers of relatively simple robots can be controlled to deal with prescribed complex tasks in an economical, robust, flexible and scalable fashion. In this paper, the key definitions of this newly emerging method are introduced and a set of criteria is presented which can be used to distinguish swarm robotics research from other multirobot studies. Then, the desirable properties of swarm robotics in the systemlevel function are described. Finally, central issues of swarm robotics are discussed including interaction between individual robots, communication, cooperation and control, selforganizing and selfassembling etc.
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2008, Vol. 21 
