Effects of Local Communication and Topology on Collective Movement Initiation

Abstract

Collective movement in autonomous systems, such as a team of robots, are frequently implemented using complex interaction rules and have significant communication requirements. These restrictions frequently relegate such systems to static, simplified environments. In contrast, collective movements in natural systems consistently occur in dynamic, complex environments in which significant communication is either impractical or impossible, and have been successfully modeled using simple, local interaction rules. In the work presented here, one such model is extended to include local communication and the spatial distribution of the group so that it can eventually be used as a guide for developing artificial systems capable of cohesive, collective movements. The extended model predicts that a reliance on local communication does not necessarily mean there will be a significant loss in the expected success of collective movement attempts if appropriate interaction rules are chosen. Furthermore, the model predicts that the addition of local communication, in conjunction with the topology of the group, results in higher expected success in attempting collective movements for individuals with central locations in the group as compared to individuals occupying edge locations.

Consensus costs and conflict in a collective movement

“…Furthermore, larger groups resulted in faster times, regardless of the environment. This was due to the fact that, as previous work has shown, larger groups increased the likelihood of a successful initiation [21,22]. Percentages indicate the fraction of agents that reached a particular, preferred destination.…”

“…The original model was only evaluated with a group size of 10, but previous results have shown that the success of collective movements increases as the group size is increased, with most success differences present in group sizes of 50 or less [21]. As such, evaluating different group sizes presented an opportunity to evaluate the effects of conflict with different group dynamics.…”

Consensus costs and conflict in robot swarms

“…The original model only used a group size of 10, but other work has shown that the success of collective movement initiations increases as the group size is increased, with most differences present in group sizes of 50 or less [3]. As such, evaluating different group sizes presents an opportunity to evaluate the effects of conflict with different group dynamics.…”

Effects of personality decay on collective movements

“…The original model was only evaluated with a group size of 10, but other work has shown that the success of collective movement initiations increases as the group size is increased, with most success differences present in group sizes of 50 or less and diminishing effects beyond a group size of 100 [2]. As such, evaluating different group sizes presents an opportunity to evaluate the effects of personality with different group dynamics.…”