This book presents the state of the art in distributed autonomous systems composed of multiple robots, robotic modules, or robotic agents. Swarms in nature can not only adapt to their environments, but can also construct suitable habitats to their own advantage. Distributed autonomous robotic systems can do many things that its individuals cannot do alone. As the global pandemic was still ongoing, the 15th International Symposium on Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems (DARS2021) was held on June 1–4, 2021, as an online meeting. The scope of DARS201 was to create a bridge between biologists and engineers interested in the distributed intelligence of living things and to establish a new academic field by integrating knowledge from both disciplines. Topics of DARS2021 were swarm intelligence, swarm robotics, multi-agent system, modular robotics, decentralized control, distributed system, etc. The papers in this book provide a very good overview of the state of the art in distributed autonomous robotic systems (DARS). They reflect current research themes in DARS with important contributions. We hope that this book helps to sustain the interest in DARS and triggers new research.

Distributed robotics is a rapidly growing, interdisciplinary research area lying at the intersection of computer science, communication and control systems, and electrical and mechanical engineering. The goal of the Symposium on Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems (DARS) is to exchange and stimulate research ideas to realize advanced distributed robotic systems. This volume of proceedings includes 43 original contributions presented at the Tenth International Symposium on Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems (DARS 2010), which was held in November 2010 at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland. The selected papers in this volume are authored by leading researchers from Asia, Europa, and the Americas, thereby providing a broad coverage and perspective of the state-of-the-art technologies, algorithms, system architectures, and applications in distributed robotic systems. The book is organized into four parts, each representing one critical and long-term research thrust in the multi-robot community: distributed sensing (Part I); localization, navigation, and formations (Part II); coordination algorithms and formal methods (Part III); modularity, distributed manipulation, and platforms (Part IV).

Distributed robotics is an interdisciplinary and rapidly growing area, combining research in computer science, communication and control systems, and electrical and mechanical engineering. Distributed robotic systems can autonomously solve complex problems while operating in highly unstructured real-world environments. They are expected to play a major role in addressing future societal needs, for example, by improving environmental impact assessment, food supply, transportation, manufacturing, security, and emergency and rescue services. The goal of the International Symposium on Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems (DARS) is to provide a forum for scientific advances in the theory and practice of distributed autonomous robotic systems. This volume of proceedings include 47 original contributions presented at the 13th International Symposium on Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems (DARS 2016), which was held at the Natural History Museum in London, UK, from November 7th to 9th, 2016. The selected papers in this volume are authored by leading researchers from around the world, thereby providing a broad coverage and perspective of the state-of-the-art technologies, algorithms, system architectures, and applications in distributed robotic systems. The book is organized into seven parts, representative of critical long-term and emerging research thrusts in the multi-robot community: Distributed Coverage and Exploration; Multi-Robot Control; Multi-Robot Estimation; Multi-Robot Planning; Modular Robots and Smart Materials; Swarm Robotics; and Multi-Robot Systems in Applications.

As a new strategy to realize the goal of flexible, robust, fault-tolerant robotic systems, the distributed autonomous approach has quickly established itself as one of the fastest growing fields in robotics. This book is one of the first to devote itself solely to this exciting area of research, covering such topics as self-organization, communication and coordination, multi-robot manipulation and control, distributed system design, distributed sensing, intelligent manufacturing systems, and group behavior. The fundamental technologies and system architectures of distributed autonomous robotic systems are expounded in detail, along with the latest research findings. This book should prove indispensable not only to those involved with robotic engineering but also to those in the fields of artificial intelligence, self-organizing systems, and coordinated control.

The Fifth International Symposium on Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems (DARS 2000) dealt with new strategies to realize complex, modular, robust, and fault-tolerant robotic systems. Technologies, algorithms, and system architectures for distributed autonomous robotic systems were presented and discussed during the meeting. DARS 2000 was truly an international event, with participants represent ing eleven countries from Europe, Asia, and the Americas. All of the papers in this volume were presented at DARS 2000, and were selected on the basis of peer re views to ensure quality and relevance. These papers have the common goal of con tributing solutions to realize robust and intelligent multirobot systems. The topics of the symposium address a wide range of issues that are important in the development of decentralized robotic systems. These topics include architec tures, communication, biological inspirations, reconfigurable robots, localization, exploration and mapping, distributed sensing, multi robot motion coordination, tar get assignment and tracking, multirobot learning, and cooperative object transport. DARS clearly requires a broad area of interdisciplinary technologies related not only to robotics and computer engineering, but also to biology and psychology. The DARS symposium is the leading established conference on distributed au tonomous systems. The First, Second, and Third International Symposia on Distrib uted Autonomous Robotic Systems (DARS '92, DARS '94, and DARS '96) were held at the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), Saitama, Japan.

The International Symposia on Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems (DARS) started at Riken, Japan in 1992. Since then, the DARS symposia have been held every two years: in 1994 and 1996 in Japan (Riken, Wako), in 1998 in Germany (Karlsruhe), in 2000 in the USA (Knoxville, TN), in 2002 in Japan (Fukuoka), in 2004 in France (Toulouse), and in 2006 in the USA (Minneapolis, MN). The 9th DARS symposium, which was held during November 17–19 in T- kuba, Japan, hosted 84 participants from 13 countries. The 48 papers presented there were selected through rigorous peer review with a 50% acceptance ratio. Along with three invited talks, they addressed the spreading research fields of DARS, which are classifiable along two streams: theoretical and standard studies of DARS, and interdisciplinary studies using DARS concepts. The former stream includes multi-robot cooperation (task assignment methodology among multiple robots, multi-robot localization, etc.), swarm intelligence, and modular robots. The latter includes distributed sensing, mobiligence, ambient intelligence, and mul- agent systems interaction with human beings. This book not only offers readers the latest research results related to DARS from theoretical studies to application-oriented ones; it also describes the present trends of this field. With the diversity and depth revealed herein, we expect that DARS technologies will flourish soon.

Great interest is now focused on distributed autonomous robotic systems (DARS) as a new strategy for the realization of flexible, robust, and intelligent robots. Inspired by autonomous, decentralized, and self-organizing biological systems, the field of DARS encompasses broad interdisciplinary technologies related not only to robotics and computer engineering but also to biology and psychology. The rapidly growing interest in this new area of research was manifest in the first volume of Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems, published in 1994. This second volume in the series presents the most recent work by eminent researchers and includes such topics as multirobot control, distributed robotic systems design, self-organizing systems, and sensing and navigation for cooperative robots. Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems 2 is a valuable source for those whose work involves robotics and will be of great interest to those in the fields of artificial intelligence, self-organizing systems, artificial life, and computer science.