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Writer's pictureJohn Michael Jalandra

BESPOKE TALK Series: Investigate the strange and wonderful world of Swarms and Boids!

Updated: May 30, 2023

The emergent properties exhibited by swarms are truly remarkable. The collective behavior of bees, ants, and termites showcases remarkable coordination and organization, despite the absence of a centralized leadership.

What is their process?

Swarms, it turns out, are great examples of complicated adaptive systems. Individual agents (in this example, bees, ants, or termites) interact with each other and their environment in ways that result in emergent behaviors at the group level in a complex adaptive system. That is, the swarm's behavior evolves from the interactions of individual actors.


The Self-Organizing Behaviors of Swarms and boids

Swarms and Boids research is a relatively young topic of study that is currently in its early stages. Despite the absence of a lengthy history, behavioral investigation of swarms and Boids has already produced some intriguing discoveries.


One of the most unexpected aspects of swarms is their ability to self-organize. Swarms may evolve complicated behaviour in the absence of centralized control or a leader. This is made feasible by the basic rules that control the behavior of the swarm's individual members.

SWARMS

Swarming behavior is an emergent behavior that results from people adhering to basic norms. There is no centralized coordination.


Since it is a bottom-up process, swarming behavior originates from basic laws. That is, rather than a central authority, it is originated and organized by people. Because swarm activity may continue even if portions of the system fail, it is incredibly resilient.


Swarm activity is self-organized, which is one of its fundamental characteristics. That is, the system's members arrange themselves into a coherent whole without any central authority telling them what to do.


BOIDS

A virtual simulation of group behavior in fish schools or soaring flocks of birds was created using the same three-dimensional computational geometry used in computer animation and computer-aided design. I referred to the general flocking simulation animals as "boids." Three basic steering behaviors explain how a bird moves in response to the positions and speeds of other birds in its flock. They are the foundation of the flocking paradigm.


The study of Boid behavior is still in its early stages, but it has already revealed some remarkable insights about animal communication and cooperation. This study has the potential to shed even more insight on the interesting subject of how animals communicate with one another.


SWARMS VS BOIDS

So, what's the difference between swarms and boids? Swarms have a high degree of cooperation and communication, while boids are more independent. This distinction may be noticed in how swarms and boids move and act. Swarms move in a more united way, while boids move in a more random form.


PARTICLE SWARM OPTIMIZATION

Particle swarm optimization (PSO) is a heuristic search technique that is based on a collection of particles' collective behavior. Kennedy and Eberhart introduced the technique in 1995, and it has been proved to be quite successful in a variety of optimization tasks.


PSO is a population-based algorithm, which means that it keeps a population of possible solutions (referred to as particles) in mind during the search process. Each particle is a potential solution to the optimization issue. At each iteration, the location of each particle in the search space is updated depending on the particle's current position, velocity, and a collection of personal and global best placements.


RULES FOR PARTICLE SWARMING

There are three primary behaviors that dictate how a flock of birds' flies: velocity matching, collision avoidance, and flock centering. Each of these behaviors is necessary for the flock to function as a unit and avoid running into objects or each other.



Velocity matching occurs when all the birds in a flock fly at the same pace. This keeps the flock coordinated and decreases the possibility of an accident.




Collision avoidance means that the birds are all trying to retain their own space from one another. Because of this, the birds in the flock can avoid colliding with one another or with obstacles.


Flock centering refers to a behavior in which birds attempt to maintain a position in the middle of the flock. This aids in keeping the flock together and preventing individuals from dispersing.


Each of these actions is required for the flock to operate correctly. Without velocity matching, the flock cannot move as a unit and is more likely to collide with things. Without collision avoidance, the flock is more likely to collide or fly into obstacles. Without flock centering, the flock is more likely to disperse in various directions and fail to remain together.


These three actions work together to keep the flock from colliding, staying together, and functioning as a unit. They are required for the flock to fly safely and successfully.




 

Ar. Joey Angelo Mangcupang

Ar. Angela Joy Tagaro

Lead Architects


John Michael Jalandra

Content Writer

 

BERSABARC Design Studio 2022

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