An Overview on Optimal Flocking

TL;DR

This paper reviews optimization-based flocking control methods for multi-agent systems, emphasizing safety guarantees, categorization of flocking types, and strategies to reduce communication and computation in real-world applications.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of optimization approaches for flocking, categorizes different flocking behaviors, and discusses methods to enhance efficiency and safety in multi-agent systems.

Findings

Categorizes flocking into cluster and line types.

Highlights optimization methods with safety guarantees.

Discusses energy-efficient and communication-reducing strategies.

Abstract

The study of robotic flocking has received considerable attention in the past twenty years. As we begin to deploy flocking control algorithms on physical multi-agent and swarm systems, there is an increasing necessity for rigorous promises on safety and performance. In this paper, we present an overview the literature focusing on optimization approaches to achieve flocking behavior that provide strong safety guarantees. We separate the literature into cluster and line flocking, and categorize cluster flocking with respect to the system-level objective, which may be realized by a reactive or planning control algorithm. We also categorize the line flocking literature by the energy-saving mechanism that is exploited by the agents. We present several approaches aimed at minimizing the communication and computational requirements in real systems via neighbor filtering and event-driven planning, and conclude with our perspective on the outlook and future research direction of optimal flocking as a field.