EXC 2002/1: Adaptive, kollektive Entscheidungsprozesse in biologisch inspirierten Roboterschw?rmen (TP 27)

The project investigates collective decision making in spatially distributed systems inspired by the behaviour of biological collectives. Here, we are particularly interested in the ability of agents to change their social decision behaviour and their social movement responses adaptively. The main research aim is to understand how these modifications of individual behaviour affect collective decision making on adaptive spatial networks, and how these individual-level changes control the speed and accuracy of the collective decision-making process in various scenarios. The research involves two main parts: 1) Implementation of a bio-inspired, spatially-explicit, individual-based model for social movements and collective decisions, and systematic investigation of the speed-accuracy trade-off through large-scale model simulations. 2) Design and performance of corresponding swarm robotic experiments for collective decision making under physical constraints (communication range, location, environment).