Swarm robotics can be defined as the study of how a swarm of relatively simple physically embodied agents can be constructed to collectively accomplish tasks that are beyond the capabilities of a single one. Unlike other studies on multi-robot systems, swarm robotics emphasizes self-organization and emergence, while keeping in mind the issues of scalability and robustness. These emphases promote the use of relatively simple robots, equipped with localized sensing ability, scalable communication mechanisms, and the exploration of decentralized control strategies.This state-of-the-art survey is the first book devoted to swarm robotics. It is based on the First International Workshop on Swarm Robotics held in Santa Monica, CA, USA in July 2004 as part of SAB 2004

Swarm robotics is the study of how large numbers of relatively simple physically embodied agentscanbe designedsuchthat a desiredcollectivebehavioremerges from the local interactions among agents and between the agents and the en- ronment. Swarm robotics has emerged as a novel approach to the coordination of large numbers of robots and is inspired from observation of social insects – ants, termites, wasps and bees – which stand as fascinating examples of how a large number of simple individuals can interact to create collectively intelligent systems. Socialinsects areknownto coordinatetheir actionsto accomplishtasks that are far beyond the capabilities of a single individual: termites build large and complex mounds, army ants organize impressive foraging raids, ants can collectively carry large prey. Such coordination capabilities are still well beyond the reach of current multi-robot systems. Researchon swarmroboticshasseen a signi?cantincreasein the last 5 years. A number of successful swarm robotic systems have now been demonstrated in the laboratory and the study of the design, modelling, implementation and analysis of swarm robotic systems has become a hot topic of research. This workshop was organized within SAB 2006, as a sequel to the successful ?rst swarmroboticsworkshopin2004,withtheaimofreviewingandupdatingrecent advances on the topic. We received 21 full papers (20 research + 1 review) and accepted 14 (13 research + 1 review). Overall, we, as organizers, were pleased with the number of submissions, and a number of our reviewers explicitly commented on the generally high quality of the papers.

Swarm robotics is the study of how large numbers of relatively simple physically embodied agentscanbe designedsuchthat a desiredcollectivebehavioremerges from the local interactions among agents and between the agents and the en- ronment. Swarm robotics has emerged as a novel approach to the coordination of large numbers of robots and is inspired from observation of social insects – ants, termites, wasps and bees – which stand as fascinating examples of how a large number of simple individuals can interact to create collectively intelligent systems. Socialinsects areknownto coordinatetheir actionsto accomplishtasks that are far beyond the capabilities of a single individual: termites build large and complex mounds, army ants organize impressive foraging raids, ants can collectively carry large prey. Such coordination capabilities are still well beyond the reach of current multi-robot systems. Researchon swarmroboticshasseen a signi?cantincreasein the last 5 years. A number of successful swarm robotic systems have now been demonstrated in the laboratory and the study of the design, modelling, implementation and analysis of swarm robotic systems has become a hot topic of research. This workshop was organized within SAB 2006, as a sequel to the successful ?rst swarmroboticsworkshopin2004,withtheaimofreviewingandupdatingrecent advances on the topic. We received 21 full papers (20 research + 1 review) and accepted 14 (13 research + 1 review). Overall, we, as organizers, were pleased with the number of submissions, and a number of our reviewers explicitly commented on the generally high quality of the papers.

These proceedings contain the papers presented at ANTS 2010, the 7th Int- national Conference on Swarm Intelligence, organized by IRIDIA, CoDE, U- versiteLibre de Bruxelles,Brussels, Belgium, during September 8-10,2010.The ANTS series started in 1998 with the First International Workshop on Ant Colony Optimization (ANTS 1998), which attracted more than 50 participants. Since then ANTS, which is held bi-annually, has gradually become an inter- tional forum for researchers in the wider ?eld of swarm intelligence. In the past (since 2004), this development has been acknowledged by the inclusion of the term"SwarmIntelligence" (nextto"AntColonyOptimization")intheconference title. This year's ANTS conference was o?cially devoted to the ?eld of swarm intelligence as a whole, without any bias towards speci?c research directions. As a result, the title of the conference was changed to "The International Conf- ence on SwarmIntelligence." This name change is already in place this year,and future ANTS conferences will continue to use the new title. Thisvolumecontainsthebestpapersselectedoutof99submissions.Ofthese, 28 were accepted as full-length papers, while 27 were accepted as short papers.This corresponds to an overall acceptance rate of 56%. Also included in this volume are 14 extended abstracts. Of the full-length papers, 15 were selected for oral presentation at the c- ference. All other contributions, including short papers and extended abstracts, werepresentedin the formof poster presentations.Following the conference,the journal Swarm Intelligence will publish extended versions of some of the best papers presented at the conference.

Swarm robotics can be defined as the study of how a swarm of relatively simple physically embodied agents can be constructed to collectively accomplish tasks that are beyond the capabilities of a single one. Unlike other studies on multi-robot systems, swarm robotics emphasizes self-organization and emergence, while keeping in mind the issues of scalability and robustness. These emphases promote the use of relatively simple robots, equipped with localized sensing ability, scalable communication mechanisms, and the exploration of decentralized control strategies.This state-of-the-art survey is the first book devoted to swarm robotics. It is based on the First International Workshop on Swarm Robotics held in Santa Monica, CA, USA in July 2004 as part of SAB 2004

Swarm robotics is the study of how large numbers of relatively simple physically embodied agentscanbe designedsuchthat a desiredcollectivebehavioremerges from the local interactions among agents and between the agents and the en- ronment. Swarm robotics has emerged as a novel approach to the coordination of large numbers of robots and is inspired from observation of social insects – ants, termites, wasps and bees – which stand as fascinating examples of how a large number of simple individuals can interact to create collectively intelligent systems. Socialinsects areknownto coordinatetheir actionsto accomplishtasks that are far beyond the capabilities of a single individual: termites build large and complex mounds, army ants organize impressive foraging raids, ants can collectively carry large prey. Such coordination capabilities are still well beyond the reach of current multi-robot systems. Researchon swarmroboticshasseen a signi?cantincreasein the last 5 years. A number of successful swarm robotic systems have now been demonstrated in the laboratory and the study of the design, modelling, implementation and analysis of swarm robotic systems has become a hot topic of research. This workshop was organized within SAB 2006, as a sequel to the successful ?rst swarmroboticsworkshopin2004,withtheaimofreviewingandupdatingrecent advances on the topic. We received 21 full papers (20 research + 1 review) and accepted 14 (13 research + 1 review). Overall, we, as organizers, were pleased with the number of submissions, and a number of our reviewers explicitly commented on the generally high quality of the papers.

Swarm robotics is the study of how large numbers of relatively simple physically embodied agentscanbe designedsuchthat a desiredcollectivebehavioremerges from the local interactions among agents and between the agents and the en- ronment. Swarm robotics has emerged as a novel approach to the coordination of large numbers of robots and is inspired from observation of social insects – ants, termites, wasps and bees – which stand as fascinating examples of how a large number of simple individuals can interact to create collectively intelligent systems. Socialinsects areknownto coordinatetheir actionsto accomplishtasks that are far beyond the capabilities of a single individual: termites build large and complex mounds, army ants organize impressive foraging raids, ants can collectively carry large prey. Such coordination capabilities are still well beyond the reach of current multi-robot systems. Researchon swarmroboticshasseen a signi?cantincreasein the last 5 years. A number of successful swarm robotic systems have now been demonstrated in the laboratory and the study of the design, modelling, implementation and analysis of swarm robotic systems has become a hot topic of research. This workshop was organized within SAB 2006, as a sequel to the successful ?rst swarmroboticsworkshopin2004,withtheaimofreviewingandupdatingrecent advances on the topic. We received 21 full papers (20 research + 1 review) and accepted 14 (13 research + 1 review). Overall, we, as organizers, were pleased with the number of submissions, and a number of our reviewers explicitly commented on the generally high quality of the papers.

These proceedings contain the papers presented at ANTS 2010, the 7th Int- national Conference on Swarm Intelligence, organized by IRIDIA, CoDE, U- versiteLibre de Bruxelles,Brussels, Belgium, during September 8-10,2010.The ANTS series started in 1998 with the First International Workshop on Ant Colony Optimization (ANTS 1998), which attracted more than 50 participants. Since then ANTS, which is held bi-annually, has gradually become an inter- tional forum for researchers in the wider ?eld of swarm intelligence. In the past (since 2004), this development has been acknowledged by the inclusion of the term"SwarmIntelligence" (nextto"AntColonyOptimization")intheconference title. This year's ANTS conference was o?cially devoted to the ?eld of swarm intelligence as a whole, without any bias towards speci?c research directions. As a result, the title of the conference was changed to "The International Conf- ence on SwarmIntelligence." This name change is already in place this year,and future ANTS conferences will continue to use the new title. Thisvolumecontainsthebestpapersselectedoutof99submissions.Ofthese, 28 were accepted as full-length papers, while 27 were accepted as short papers.This corresponds to an overall acceptance rate of 56%. Also included in this volume are 14 extended abstracts. Of the full-length papers, 15 were selected for oral presentation at the c- ference. All other contributions, including short papers and extended abstracts, werepresentedin the formof poster presentations.Following the conference,the journal Swarm Intelligence will publish extended versions of some of the best papers presented at the conference.