Circle Formation using Buzz

When we designed our language Buzz, we wanted to create something that could be ported to any robot. We have made an initial port of Buzz for a popular robotic platform, the Khepera IV. The result of this port is a “glue” library that provides a set of functions for controlling the robot to the Buzz interpreter. As usual, we have released the (still unfinished!) code on GitHub. The total integration work was only a couple of days’ work, a testament to the portability of Buzz.

So we can now proudly show an example of Buzz at work: we programmed the Kheperas with a simple algorithm that, without computation, leads to circle formation. The algorithm itself will be the subject of a future publication. What the video shows is that the robots can be successfully controlled and their sensors used to perform swarming tasks:

Credits:

• Programming: Carlo Pinciroli, David St-Onge
• Video: David St-Onge
• We would also like to thank NSERC for letting us purchase the Kheperas