Publication:
Blockchain Technology Secures Robot Swarms: A Comparison of Consensus Protocols and Their Resilience to Byzantine Robots

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorCastelló, Eduardo
dc.contributor.authorDorigo, Marco
dc.contributor.authorStrobel, Volker
dc.contributor.rorhttps://ror.org/02jjdwm75
dc.date.accessioned2025-04-08T10:17:08Z
dc.date.available2025-04-08T10:17:08Z
dc.date.issued2020-05-12
dc.description.abstractConsensus achievement is a crucial capability for robot swarms, for example, for path selection, spatial aggregation, or collective sensing. However, the presence of malfunctioning and malicious robots (Byzantine robots) can make it impossible to achieve consensus using classical consensus protocols. In this work, we show how a swarm of robots can achieve consensus even in the presence of Byzantine robots by exploiting blockchain technology. Bitcoin and later blockchain frameworks, such as Ethereum, have revolutionized financial transactions. These frameworks are based on decentralized databases (blockchains) that can achieve secure consensus in peer-to-peer networks. We illustrate our approach in a collective sensing scenario where robots in a swarm are controlled via blockchain-based smart contracts (decentralized protocols executed via blockchain technology) that serve as “meta-controllers” and we compare it to state-of-the-art consensus protocols using a robot swarm simulator. Additionally, we show that our blockchain-based approach can prevent attacks where robots forge a large number of identities (Sybil attacks). The developed robot-blockchain interface is released as open-source software in order to facilitate future research in blockchain-controlled robot swarms. Besides increasing security, we expect the presented approach to be important for data analysis, digital forensics, and robot-to-robot financial transactions in robot swarms.
dc.description.peerreviewedyes
dc.description.statusPublished
dc.formatapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.citationStrobel, V., Castelló Ferrer, E., & Dorigo, M. (2020). Blockchain technology secures robot swarms: A comparison of consensus protocols and their resilience to byzantine robots. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 7, 54. https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2020.00054.
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2020.00054
dc.identifier.issn2296-9144
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14417/3728
dc.issue.number54
dc.journal.titleFrontiers in Robotics and AI
dc.language.isoen
dc.page.total22
dc.publisherFrontiers
dc.relation.departmentComputer Science and AI
dc.relation.departmentSci Tech (Data Science)
dc.relation.entityIE University
dc.relation.schoolIE School of Science & Technology
dc.rightsAttribution 4.0 International
dc.rights.accessRightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed
dc.subject.keywordSwarm robotics
dc.subject.keywordBlockchain technology
dc.subject.keywordByzantine fault-tolerance
dc.subject.keywordResilient robotics
dc.subject.keywordVerifiable robotics
dc.titleBlockchain Technology Secures Robot Swarms: A Comparison of Consensus Protocols and Their Resilience to Byzantine Robots
dc.typeinfo:eu-repo/semantics/article
dc.version.typeinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
dc.volume.number7
dspace.entity.typePublication
relation.isAuthorOfPublicationd856da22-e435-4a12-9b26-e796dce159c5
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscoveryd856da22-e435-4a12-9b26-e796dce159c5
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Blockchain Technology Secures Robot Swarms A Comparison of Consensus Protocols and Their Resilience to Byzantine Robots.pdf
Size:
4.89 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
2.83 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed to upon submission
Description:
Download
Collections
Research Articles