Energy consumption is a critical concern for Internet of Things (IoT) platforms lacking abundant resources, particularly for swarm robotic systems that rely on numerous devices operating collaboratively over extended periods. This study presents a comprehensive design strategy for improving processing and communication to enhance system efficiency and reduce energy consumption. We incorporate energy harvesting (photovoltaic and RF), dynamic power management, and energy-efficient communication protocols (e.g., duty cycle, power control, data compression) into two complementary platforms built for swarm robotics: MCU-based nodes (TI MSP430 with LoRa transceiver), which serve as the experimental prototype for validating energy-aware communication, compression, and scheduling mechanisms; edge platforms (Jetson Nano and TX2), which are used for high-level power profiling and system-level evaluation, particularly for computation intensive workloads and comparative analysis. Our technique involves analyzing the device’s energy usage and harvesting processes, developing efficient communication protocols, and validating the system through simulations and hardware prototypes. Experimental results under outdoor and indoor conditions show that the device maintains an energy neutrality ratio well above unity, even with limited ambient energy. Key findings include significant reductions in energy per bit transmitted and reliable long-term operation. These insights pave the way for deploying swarms of autonomous IoT-based robots with minimal maintenance and maximal longevity.
Ijaz et al. (2026) studied this question.