Rice Univesrity Logo
    • FAQ
    • Deposit your work
    • Login
    View Item 
    •   Rice Scholarship Home
    • Rice University Graduate Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • Rice University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    •   Rice Scholarship Home
    • Rice University Graduate Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • Rice University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Art and Engineering Inspired by Swarm Robotics

    Thumbnail
    Name:
    ZHOU-DOCUMENT-2017.pdf
    Size:
    8.779Mb
    Format:
    PDF
    View/Open
    Thumbnail
    Name:
    video.zip
    Size:
    16.27Mb
    Format:
    application/zip
    Description:
    Supplementary files (MP4 format)
    View/Open
    Author
    Zhou, Yu
    Date
    2017-04-13
    Advisor
    Goldman, Ronald
    Degree
    Doctor of Philosophy
    Abstract
    Swarm robotics has the potential to combine the power of the hive with the sensibility of the individual to solve non-traditional problems in mechanical, industrial, and architectural engineering and to develop exquisite art beyond the ken of most contemporary painters, sculptors, and architects. The goal of this thesis is to apply swarm robotics to the sublime and the quotidian to achieve this synergy between art and engineering. The potential applications of collective behaviors, manipulation, and self-assembly are quite extensive. We will concentrate our research on three topics: fractals, stability analysis, and building an enhanced multi-robot simulator. Self-assembly of swarm robots into fractal shapes can be used both for artistic purposes (fractal sculptures) and in engineering applications (fractal antennas). Stability analysis studies whether distributed swarm algorithms are stable and robust either to sensing or to numerical errors, and tries to provide solutions to avoid unstable robot configurations. Our enhanced multi-robot simulator supports this research by providing real-time simulations with customized parameters, and can become as well a platform for educating a new generation of artists and engineers. The goal of this thesis is to use techniques inspired by swarm robotics to develop a computational framework accessible to and suitable for both artists and engineers. The scope we have in mind for art and engineering is unlimited. Modern museums, stadium roofs, dams, solar power plants, radio telescopes, star networks, fractal sculptures, fractal antennas, fractal floral arrangements, smooth metallic railroad tracks, temporary utilitarian enclosures, permanent modern architectural designs, guard structures, op art, and communication networks can all be built from the bodies of the swarm.
    Description
    Supplemental files include 8 short videos of less than 1 minute each. List of files are: archimedean.mp4 -- circular.mp4 -- evasion.mp4 -- fractal_curve_koch.mp4 -- fractal_curve_sierpinski.mp4 -- fractal_tree_alternate.mp4 -- fractal_tree_random.mp4 -- pursuit.mp4
    Keyword
    Swarm Robotics; Distributed Algorithms; Fractals; Stability Analysis; Multi-Robot Systems; More... Collective Intelligence Less...
    Citation
    Zhou, Yu. "Art and Engineering Inspired by Swarm Robotics." (2017) Diss., Rice University. https://hdl.handle.net/1911/96096.
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Collections
    • Rice University Electronic Theses and Dissertations [13409]

    Home | FAQ | Contact Us | Privacy Notice | Accessibility Statement
    Managed by the Digital Scholarship Services at Fondren Library, Rice University
    Physical Address: 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005
    Mailing Address: MS-44, P.O.BOX 1892, Houston, Texas 77251-1892
    Site Map

     

    Searching scope

    Browse

    Entire ArchiveCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsTypeThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsType

    My Account

    Login

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    Home | FAQ | Contact Us | Privacy Notice | Accessibility Statement
    Managed by the Digital Scholarship Services at Fondren Library, Rice University
    Physical Address: 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005
    Mailing Address: MS-44, P.O.BOX 1892, Houston, Texas 77251-1892
    Site Map