Predictive protocol of flocks with small-world connection pattern

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel flocking protocol combining small-world network connections with predictive mechanisms, significantly enhancing cohesion and stability in self-driven flocks while reducing communication costs.

Contribution

The work proposes a new motion protocol that integrates predictive pseudo-leaders and small-world links, improving flock stability and efficiency compared to existing models.

Findings

Enhanced consensus performance and stability.

Reduced communication costs with few long-range links.

Predictive capabilities compensate for limited network connectivity.

Abstract

By introducing a predictive mechanism with small-world connections, we propose a new motion protocol for self-driven flocks. The small-world connections are implemented by randomly adding long-range interactions from the leader to a few distant agents, namely pseudo-leaders. The leader can directly affect the pseudo-leaders, thereby influencing all the other agents through them efficiently. Moreover, these pseudo-leaders are able to predict the leader's motion several steps ahead and use this information in decision making towards coherent flocking with more stable formation. It is shown that drastic improvement can be achieved in terms of both the consensus performance and the communication cost. From the industrial engineering point of view, the current protocol allows for a significant improvement in the cohesion and rigidity of the formation at a fairly low cost of adding a few long-range links embedded with predictive capabilities. Significantly, this work uncovers an important feature of flocks that predictive capability and long-range links can compensate for the insufficiency of each other. These conclusions are valid for both the attractive/repulsive swarm model and the Vicsek model.