Final Report Summary - COLLMOT (Complex structure and dynamics of collective motion)
Our research has been concerned with the various multidisciplinary aspects of collective behaviour, concentrating on group motion. The main goal we intended to achieve was the identification and documentation of new unifying principles and basic laws describing the essential aspects of collective motion being one of the most common and spectacular manifestation of coordinated actions. To do so we carried out novel type of experiments and designed computer models involving a wide range of coherently moving units, such as tissue cells, birds and even aerial robots. We considered the interrelation of these in order to improve the interpretation of collective behavioural patterns in both living and non-living systems by learning about the similar phenomena in the two domains of nature.
Thus, we have been searching for common features behind the numerous specific ones in very different systems of flocking units. And indeed, we have found a few. Our major observations can be grouped into several kinds of essential behavioural patterns/ingredients: i) Coherent collective motion is greatly enhanced by taking into account the momentary velocity of only a few neighbouring units (by trying to align with them), ii) There are a small number of typical collective motion patterns (e.g. such as the units rotating around a centre or just moving along parallel, but a bit wiggly trajectories, due to perturbations) and interesting transitions between them, iii) Perturbations, delays in the communication and other disturbing factors prevent coherence to a well-defined degree, iv) leader-follower relationships bring in interesting aspects of hierarchy and finally, v) truly non-trivial coherent group motion is greatly enhanced if the units are able to predict the “next move” of the closest group members (as if they had a “pre-programmed” set of choreographic motifs).
Thus, we have been searching for common features behind the numerous specific ones in very different systems of flocking units. And indeed, we have found a few. Our major observations can be grouped into several kinds of essential behavioural patterns/ingredients: i) Coherent collective motion is greatly enhanced by taking into account the momentary velocity of only a few neighbouring units (by trying to align with them), ii) There are a small number of typical collective motion patterns (e.g. such as the units rotating around a centre or just moving along parallel, but a bit wiggly trajectories, due to perturbations) and interesting transitions between them, iii) Perturbations, delays in the communication and other disturbing factors prevent coherence to a well-defined degree, iv) leader-follower relationships bring in interesting aspects of hierarchy and finally, v) truly non-trivial coherent group motion is greatly enhanced if the units are able to predict the “next move” of the closest group members (as if they had a “pre-programmed” set of choreographic motifs).