Control of complex physically simulated robot groups

Actuated systems such as robots take many forms and sizes but each requires solving the di-cult task of utiliz- ing available control inputs to accomplish desired system performance. Coordinated groups of robots provide the opportunity to accomplish more complex tasks, to adapt to changing environmental conditions, and to survive in- dividual failures. Similarly, groups of simulated robots, represented as graphical characters, can test the design of experimentalscenariosandprovideautonomousinteractivecounterpartsforvideogames. Thecomplexityofwriting control algorithms for these groups currently hinders their use. A combination of biologically inspired heuristics, searchstrategies,andoptimizationtechniquesservetoreducethecomplexityofcontrollingtheserealandsimulated characters and to provide computationally feasible solutions.