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On Hybrid Classical and Unconventional Computing for Guiding Collective Movement

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Advances in Unconventional Computing

Part of the book series: Emergence, Complexity and Computation ((ECC,volume 23))

Abstract

Collective movement in living systems typically displays complex dynamics which cannot be described by the component parts themselves. Plasmodium of slime mould Physarum polycephalum exhibits complex amoeboid movement during its foraging and hazard avoidance which may be influenced by the local placement of attractants, repellents and light irradiation stimuli. Slime mould is a useful inspiration to soft-robotics due to its simple component parts and the distributed nature of its control and locomotion mechanisms. However, it is challenging to interface classical computing devices to a distributed system which utilises self-organised and emergent properties. In this chapter we investigate potential hybrid approaches to the task of automatically guiding collective robotics devices, using a multi-agent model of slime mould. We demonstrate a variety of simple open-loop guidance methods. We then describe a hybrid classical/unconventional computing approach using a closed-loop feedback mechanism with attractant and repellent stimuli. Both stimulus types were capable of successful automatic guidance, but we found that repellent stimuli (a light illumination mask) provided faster and more accurate guidance than attractant sources, which were found to exhibit overshooting phenomena at path turns. The method allows traversal of convoluted arenas with challenging obstacles such as narrow channels and complex gratings, and provides an insight into how unconventional computing substrates may be hybridised with classical computing methods to take advantage of the mutual benefits of both approaches.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the EU research project “Physarum Chip: Growing Computers from Slime Mould” (FP7 ICT Ref 316366).

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  1. Centre for Unconventional Computing, University of the West of England, Bristol, BS16 1QY, UK

    Jeff Jones

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Correspondence to Jeff Jones .

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  1. Unconventional ComputingCentre, University of the Westof England Unconventional ComputingCentre, Bristol, United Kingdom

    Andrew Adamatzky

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Jones, J. (2017). On Hybrid Classical and Unconventional Computing for Guiding Collective Movement. In: Adamatzky, A. (eds) Advances in Unconventional Computing. Emergence, Complexity and Computation, vol 23. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33921-4_21

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33921-4_21

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