Pattern-Acquisition in Finite, Heterogenous, Delay-Coupled Swarms

TL;DR

This paper systematically investigates how the stable patterns of heterogenous, delay-coupled swarms depend on the number of agents, revealing effects on pattern formation and convergence time with implications for robotic curve-tracking.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of pattern acquisition in finite, heterogeneous swarms with time delays, a novel focus in swarm behavior research.

Findings

Pattern stability varies with swarm size.

Convergence time is affected by agent heterogeneity.

Implications for autonomous robotic curve-tracking.

Abstract

The self-organizing behavior of swarms of inter- acting particles or agents is a topic of intense research in fields extending from biology to physics and robotics. In this paper, we carry out a systematic study of how the stable spatio-temporal patterns of a swarm depend on the number of agents, in the presence of time-delayed interaction and agent heterogeneity. We show how a coherent pattern is modified as the number of agents varies, including the time required to converge to it starting from random initial conditions. We discuss the implications of our results for curve-tracking using autonomous robotic systems.