This works addresses the complexity of coordinating in large multi-robot systems (MRS), by drawing inspiration from simple and effective strategies, observable in social-insect colonies e.g. ants and bees. These insects have evolved over a long period of time and show remarkable behaviours that are highly suitable for addressing the complex tasks that they are facing. In this thesis we introduce two novel social-insect based approaches, providing simple and effective coordination in the field of multi-robot coverage and explore their performances and properties in extensive case studies. To address their limitations in real-world situations, we introduce and evaluate an end-to-end system to allow their deployment on light weight robotic systems.