CDS/CIMMS Joint Seminar: Collective Motion in Engineered and Natural Multi-Agent Systems

Dr. Naomi Ehrich Leonard, Princeton University
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering,

The collective control of mobile, multi-agent systems is motivated by a range of engineering applications that require the coordination of a group of individually controlled systems. A closely related problem focuses on the role of feedback and interconnection in the collective motion of animal groups. Tools from control and dynamical systems can be used to study both engineered and natural mobile networks in a systematic and scalable way. In this talk I will describe recent collaborative work on models for collective motion based on moving particles with steering control. We extend phase models of coupled oscillators to include spatial dynamics and use these models for design and analysis of collective motion patterns. I will describe application to design of an ocean sampling network and to analysis of fish schooling behavior.