Emergent flocking with low-end swarm robots

Abstract

This article analyses a flocking algorithm that was developed specifically for small and simple swarm robots. It is similar to traditional flocking algorithms for swarm robots, however it does not need communication nor global information. Its only requirements are at least 4 circumferential distance sensors which can have very limited range. This is possible because our algorithm generates emergent alignment of flock members. We show an analysis of our simulations and a short overview of a real robot experiment. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.