A Systems Interpretation for Observations of Bird V-formations

Seiler, Peter; Pant, Aniruddha; Hedrick, J. Karl

doi:10.1006/jtbi.2003.3191

Cited by 28 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…• (the occurrence of V-like formations in large flocks is inherently difficult and is rarely observed in nature [17], thence our moderate choices for the value of n).…”

Section: Computational Results and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

V-like Formations in Flocks of Artificial Birds

Nathan

Barbosa

2008

Artificial Life

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We consider flocks of artificial birds and study the emergence of V-like formations during flight. We introduce a small set of fully distributed positioning rules to guide the birds' movements and demonstrate, by means of simulations, that they tend to lead to stabilization into several of the well-known V-like formations that have been observed in nature. We also provide quantitative indicators that we believe are closely related to achieving V-like formations, and study their behavior over a large set of independent simulations.

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“…• (the occurrence of V-like formations in large flocks is inherently difficult and is rarely observed in nature [17], thence our moderate choices for the value of n).…”

Section: Computational Results and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

V-like Formations in Flocks of Artificial Birds

Nathan

Barbosa

2008

Artificial Life

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“…We must note that there might be also alternative explanations for the observed distribution of formation sizes with its high proportion of pair formations. Modeling formation flight using insights from control theory, Seiler et al (33) argued that oscillations in the relative lateral positioning of the birds accumulate, making it inherently difficult for birds further back in the line to keep the lateral distance to the preceding bird. The strength of dyadic ties during the flight seems not to be correlated with social proximity on the ground, although this observation is in line with findings in pigeons, where social hierarchies on the ground cannot predict leader-follower relationships in the air (34).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Matching times of leading and following suggest cooperation through direct reciprocity during V-formation flight in ibis

Voelkl

Portugal

Unsöld

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

109

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One conspicuous feature of several larger bird species is their annual migration in V-shaped or echelon formation. When birds are flying in these formations, energy savings can be achieved by using the aerodynamic up-wash produced by the preceding bird. As the leading bird in a formation cannot profit from this up-wash, a social dilemma arises around the question of who is going to fly in front? To investigate how this dilemma is solved, we studied the flight behavior of a flock of juvenile Northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita) during a human-guided autumn migration. We could show that the amount of time a bird is leading a formation is strongly correlated with the time it can itself profit from flying in the wake of another bird. On the dyadic level, birds match the time they spend in the wake of each other by frequent pairwise switches of the leading position. Taken together, these results suggest that bald ibis cooperate by directly taking turns in leading a formation. On the proximate level, we propose that it is mainly the high number of iterations and the immediacy of reciprocation opportunities that favor direct reciprocation. Finally, we found evidence that the animals' propensity to reciprocate in leading has a substantial influence on the size and cohesion of the flight formations.formation flight | cooperation | social dilemma | reciprocity A considerable portion of the worldwide bird population performs biannual long-distance migrations (1, 2). These journeys impose large energetic costs on the animals, and as a consequence, mortality is considerably higher during migration than at any other time of the year (3). Reasons for this increased mortality during migration include suppressed immune response, starvation, and dehydration, among others (4, 5). In greater snow geese (Chen caerulescens), for example, mortality during the autumn migration was estimated at 5% for adult birds and up to 35% for juvenile birds (6). At least a part of this increased mortality can be directly or indirectly linked to the physical exertion during migration flights. Consequently, there should be a strong selection pressure-especially on young birds during their first migration-to minimize energy expenditure during migratory flights and increase the chance of survival. Traveling in close, structured groups has been proposed as an energy-saving strategy, with savings being accrued through positive aero-or hydrodynamic interactions between members of the group (7-10). Flight in V-shaped or echelon formation by birds is perhaps the most prominent example of this. The precise aerodynamic interactions in a flock have been the subject of detailed theoretical and, more recently, empirical studies (2,7,(11)(12)(13)(14). During flight, high-pressure air under the wings flows around the tips to a region of low air pressure above the wings. This flow forms two vortices in the bird's wake, produced by regions of upwash outboard of the wings, and a central region of downwash immediately behind the bird (7, 13). This up-wash can provi...

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“…In auctions, for instance, maximizing the local benefit also maximizes the net global benefit (defined as the sum of individual benefits) and concurrently solves the dual pricing problem [15]. In contrast to a team, a formation almost always consists of cooperative interactions, and the relationship between the states of the agents is well-defined for objectives such as energy efficiency (e.g., flocks of birds in an aerodynamically optimum V-formation [17]). A swarm generally refers to a group of similar agents that displays emergent behavior arising from local interactions among the agents.…”

Section: Models Stability and Controllability Of Swarmsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Survey on Aerial Swarm Robotics

et al. 2018

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Abstract-The use of aerial swarms to solve real-world problems has been increasing steadily, accompanied by falling prices and improving performance of communication, sensing, and processing hardware. The commoditization of hardware has reduced unit costs, thereby lowering the barriers to entry to the field of aerial swarm robotics. A key enabling technology for swarms is the family of algorithms that allow the individual members of the swarm to communicate and allocate tasks amongst themselves, plan their trajectories, and coordinate their flight in such a way that the overall objectives of the swarm are achieved efficiently. These algorithms, often organized in a hierarchical fashion, endow the swarm with autonomy at every level, and the role of a human operator can be reduced, in principle, to interactions at a higher level without direct intervention. This technology depends on the clever and innovative application of theoretical tools from control and estimation. This paper reviews the state of the art of these theoretical tools, specifically focusing on how they have been developed for, and applied to, aerial swarms. Aerial swarms differ from swarms of ground-based vehicles in two respects: they operate in a three-dimensional (3-D) space, and the dynamics of individual vehicles adds an extra layer of complexity. We review dynamic modeling and conditions for stability and controllability that are essential in order to achieve cooperative flight and distributed sensing. The main sections of the paper focus on major results covering trajectory generation, task allocation, adversarial control, distributed sensing, monitoring, and mapping. Wherever possible, we indicate how the physics and subsystem technologies of aerial robots are brought to bear on these individual areas.

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A Systems Interpretation for Observations of Bird V-formations

Cited by 28 publications

References 21 publications

V-like Formations in Flocks of Artificial Birds

V-like Formations in Flocks of Artificial Birds

Matching times of leading and following suggest cooperation through direct reciprocity during V-formation flight in ibis

A Survey on Aerial Swarm Robotics

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