Pogobot: an Open-Source, Low-Cost Robot for Swarm Robotics and Programmable Active Matter
Abstract
This paper describes the Pogobot, an open-source platform specifically designed for research at the interface of swarm robotics and active matter. Pogobot features vibration-based or wheel-based locomotion, fast infrared communication, and an array of sensors in a cost-effective package (approx. 250euros/unit). The platform's modular design, comprehensive API, and extensible architecture facilitate the implementation of swarm intelligence algorithms and collective motion. Pogobots offer an accessible alternative to existing platforms while providing advanced capabilities including directional communication between units and fast locomotion, all with a compact form factor. More than 200 Pogobots are already being used on a daily basis in several Universities to study self-organizing systems, programmable active matter, discrete reaction-diffusion-advection systems and computational models of social learning and evolution. This paper details the hardware and software architecture, communication protocols, locomotion mechanisms, and the infrastructure built around the Pogobots.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2504.08686,
title = {Pogobot: an Open-Source, Low-Cost Robot for Swarm Robotics and Programmable Active Matter},
author = {Alessia Loi and Loona Macabre and Jérémy Fersula and Keivan Amini and Leo Cazenille and Fabien Caura and Alexandre Guerre and Stéphane Gourichon and Laurent Fabre and Olivier Dauchot and Nicolas Bredeche},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2504.08686},
year = {2025}
}