Network Dynamics of Emergent Flocking Behavior

Flocking is the phenomenon in which self-driven individuals, using limited information and simple rules, organize into an ordered motion. This ordering occurs at the dynamic level where ordering is not possible at static equilibrium of systems. This paper explores computational and theoretical efforts undertaken to explain emergent phenomenon among autonomous mobile agents. A class of local control laws is investigated for a collection of agents that result in global order their motion in convergence of their movement to a common while avoiding collision with obstacles. These are made possible through local control action by exploiting the graph theoretic properties of the underlying agent networks. Algebraic connectivity affects the performance and robustness properties of the overall flocking behavior. It is shown how the stability of the flocking motion is directly associated with the connectivity properties of the agent networks.