Fuzzy Model for a Computer Simulation of Bird Flocking

University of Ljubljana Faculty of Computer and Information Science Iztok Lebar Bajec Fuzzy Model for a Computer Simulation of Bird Flocking One of the most obvious observations that can be made about the natural world is that it is based on dynamics. Indeed the latter is as present in nature (fluids, animal groups, etc.) as it is in man-made systems (vehicle traffic, autonomous robots, etc.). In most cases we talk about cooperation or coexistence of groups of entities, which can be homogeneous or not. Furthermore it can be said that in most cases the basic means of cooperation or coexistence is coordinated movement. In man-made systems this capability had to be introduced, but in the natural world it has been present since the days of its creation. This is why most authors when modelling, simulating or introducing coordinated movement capabilities into men-made systems draw their inspiration from the natural world – primarily from coordinated groups of moving animals. Examples of coordinated animal groups abound, but the most commonly known are flocks of birds, schools of fish and swarms of insects. The scientific study of animal behaviour in general is called ethology. Until recently it has been practiced entirely through observation of living animals and their interactions with the environment. Nevertheless, knowledge gained while modelling and simulating cooperating and coexisting systems presents a new approach to the study of animal behaviour. Appearing is indeed the possibility to study animal behaviour through computer modelling and simulation, in other words, to study animal behaviour by developing digital (or simulated) animals living and coexisting in a digital universe and observing them while cooperating with each other. Ethologists can thus move from observing behaviour in the natural world, where the displayed behaviour depends on preconditions on which one has hardly any influence, to observing behaviour in the digital world, which is fully under the scientist’s control. Furthermore, the approach is gaining appeal because of the ever increasing processing and visualisation capabilities of personal computers. In the future the ethologist will thus first construct a digital counterpart of the animal of