A blockchain-based information market to incentivise cooperation in swarms of self-interested robots
Abstract Robot swarms are generally considered to be composed of cooperative agents that, despite their limited individual capabilities, can perform difficult tasks by working together. However, in open swarms, where different robots can be added to the swarm by different parties with potentially co...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2023-11-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-46238-1 |
| _version_ | 1797452767044829184 |
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| author | Ludéric Van Calck Alexandre Pacheco Volker Strobel Marco Dorigo Andreagiovanni Reina |
| author_facet | Ludéric Van Calck Alexandre Pacheco Volker Strobel Marco Dorigo Andreagiovanni Reina |
| author_sort | Ludéric Van Calck |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Robot swarms are generally considered to be composed of cooperative agents that, despite their limited individual capabilities, can perform difficult tasks by working together. However, in open swarms, where different robots can be added to the swarm by different parties with potentially competing interests, cooperation is but one of many strategies. We envision an information market where robots can buy and sell information through transactions stored on a distributed blockchain, and where cooperation is encouraged by the economy itself. As a proof of concept, we study a classical foraging task, where exchanging information with other robots is paramount to accomplish the task efficiently. We illustrate that even a single robot that lies to others—a so-called Byzantine robot—can heavily disrupt the swarm. Hence, we devise two protection mechanisms. Through an individual-level protection mechanism, robots are more sceptical about others’ information and can detect and discard Byzantine information, at the cost of lower efficiency. Through a systemic protection mechanism based on economic rules regulating robot interactions, robots that sell honest information acquire over time more wealth than Byzantines selling false information. Our simulations show that a well-designed robot economy penalises misinformation spreading and protects the swarm from Byzantine behaviour. We believe economics-inspired swarm robotics is a promising research direction that exploits the timely opportunity for decentralised economies offered by blockchain technology. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T15:13:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-249a8770824c414499c4b17405f8ae70 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T15:13:25Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-249a8770824c414499c4b17405f8ae702023-11-26T13:14:43ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222023-11-0113111810.1038/s41598-023-46238-1A blockchain-based information market to incentivise cooperation in swarms of self-interested robotsLudéric Van Calck0Alexandre Pacheco1Volker Strobel2Marco Dorigo3Andreagiovanni Reina4Institut de Recherches Interdisciplinaires et de Développements en Intelligence Artificielle (IRIDIA), Université Libre de BruxellesInstitut de Recherches Interdisciplinaires et de Développements en Intelligence Artificielle (IRIDIA), Université Libre de BruxellesInstitut de Recherches Interdisciplinaires et de Développements en Intelligence Artificielle (IRIDIA), Université Libre de BruxellesInstitut de Recherches Interdisciplinaires et de Développements en Intelligence Artificielle (IRIDIA), Université Libre de BruxellesInstitut de Recherches Interdisciplinaires et de Développements en Intelligence Artificielle (IRIDIA), Université Libre de BruxellesAbstract Robot swarms are generally considered to be composed of cooperative agents that, despite their limited individual capabilities, can perform difficult tasks by working together. However, in open swarms, where different robots can be added to the swarm by different parties with potentially competing interests, cooperation is but one of many strategies. We envision an information market where robots can buy and sell information through transactions stored on a distributed blockchain, and where cooperation is encouraged by the economy itself. As a proof of concept, we study a classical foraging task, where exchanging information with other robots is paramount to accomplish the task efficiently. We illustrate that even a single robot that lies to others—a so-called Byzantine robot—can heavily disrupt the swarm. Hence, we devise two protection mechanisms. Through an individual-level protection mechanism, robots are more sceptical about others’ information and can detect and discard Byzantine information, at the cost of lower efficiency. Through a systemic protection mechanism based on economic rules regulating robot interactions, robots that sell honest information acquire over time more wealth than Byzantines selling false information. Our simulations show that a well-designed robot economy penalises misinformation spreading and protects the swarm from Byzantine behaviour. We believe economics-inspired swarm robotics is a promising research direction that exploits the timely opportunity for decentralised economies offered by blockchain technology.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-46238-1 |
| spellingShingle | Ludéric Van Calck Alexandre Pacheco Volker Strobel Marco Dorigo Andreagiovanni Reina A blockchain-based information market to incentivise cooperation in swarms of self-interested robots Scientific Reports |
| title | A blockchain-based information market to incentivise cooperation in swarms of self-interested robots |
| title_full | A blockchain-based information market to incentivise cooperation in swarms of self-interested robots |
| title_fullStr | A blockchain-based information market to incentivise cooperation in swarms of self-interested robots |
| title_full_unstemmed | A blockchain-based information market to incentivise cooperation in swarms of self-interested robots |
| title_short | A blockchain-based information market to incentivise cooperation in swarms of self-interested robots |
| title_sort | blockchain based information market to incentivise cooperation in swarms of self interested robots |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-46238-1 |
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