Swarming Robots Benefit from Starling Study

[RoboGuy]

The SwirlingBrain sent us a link to a Telegraphstory about a new Starling study that will benefit robot swarmingtechnology. Previous computer models of flocking birds assumed each birdinteracted with all other birds in the flock. The new study, whichincluded accurate 3D tracking information on over 3,000 birds, revealsthat each Starling tracks six or seven other Starlings, regardless oftheir changing distance. This explains why flocks expand and contract soquickly and accurately after predator attacks. Each bird continues totrack its selected neighbors even when they spread out, allow them toquickly reassemble into a tight group. This new information gavescientists the clue they needed to solvethe flocking problem in a way that should make more accurate flockingand swarming behaviors in robots possible. This research is part of the EuropeanSTARFLAG project. The study itself is available onilne: Interaction Ruling AnimalCollective Behaviour Depends on Topological rather than Metric Distance:Evidence from a Field Study (PDF format).

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