Abstract

Previous work has shown that virtual hormone systems can be engineered to arbitrateswarms of robots between sets of behaviours. These virtual hormones act similarly to theirnatural counterparts, providing a method of online, reactive adaptation. It is yet to be shownhow virtual hormone systems could be used when a robotic swarm has a large variety of task typesto execute. This paper details work that demonstrates the viability of a collection of virtual hormonesthat can be used to regulate and adapt a swarm over time, in response to different environmentsand tasks. Specifically, the paper examines a new method of hormone speed control for energyefficiency and combines it with two existing systems controlling environmental preference as wellas a selection of behaviours that produce an effective foraging swarm. Experiments confirm theeffectiveness of the combined system, showing that a swarm of robots equipped with multiple virtualhormones can forage efficiently to a specified item demand within an allotted period of time.