Abstract

This paper presents the design, implementation, and validation of a deposition system for a ferromagnetic pheromone. The project originates from the necessity of a bio-inspired communication method, like pheromones, on a swarm of mobile robots. This was desired to achieve a collective behavior due to the interaction of several robots. The designed system was able to deposit pheromone drops of 6mm in diameter, with a 1.5% error and a magnetization time of 30 minutes, by using a Robotino robot.

Keywords Pheromone; stigmergy; ferrofluid; swarm robotics; Robotino