Biologically Inspired Visual Communication System for Improving Multiple Robot System Operation and Resiliency

This research considers the problem of signal loss on radio frequency communication within Multiple Robot Systems. As more consumer devices utilize wireless communication technology, there are fewer open radio frequencies available. This dissertation will investigate biological visual communication methods and develop an active robotic visual communication system suitable for use within a Multiple Robot System. Humans employ a few different methods of active visual communication, but none have been applied to robotic communication. There are numerous active visual communication systems within biology that may be better suited for robotic applications as compared to current human systems. A key component of this research will be investigating and decomposing these communication systems. The decomposition will be used to develop the foundation of the robotic visual communication system. The development of the visual communication system will then be detailed and will include the software, the visual communication receiver, and the visual communication transmitter. The functionality of the visual communication prototype will then be discussed in both a laboratory setting and for practical deployment on a robotic platform for real-world application testing. The completion of this work will result in establishing a communication protocol that can operate in areas with heavy radio frequency interference or where radio communications are not desired. This thesis will support the view that multi robot systems and other collaborative robotic systems do not need to be reliant on radio frequency communication to reliably operate.