Physicomimetics Physics-Based Swarm Intelligence
Standard approaches to understanding swarms rely on inspiration from biology and are generally covered by the term “biomimetics”. This book focuses on a different, complementary inspiration, namely physics. The editors have introduced
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William M. Spears r Diana F. Spears Editors
Physicomimetics Physics-Based Swarm Intelligence
Editors Dr. William M. Spears Swarmotics LLC Laramie, WY USA [email protected]
Dr. Diana F. Spears Swarmotics LLC Laramie, WY USA [email protected]
ISBN 978-3-642-22803-2 e-ISBN 978-3-642-22804-9 DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-22804-9 Springer Heidelberg Dordrecht London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2011942477 ACM Classification (1998): I.2, I.6, J.2 © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Violations are liable to prosecution under the German Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
To Daisy
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Preface
We are used to thinking of the world in a centralized and hierarchical manner. Governments and businesses rely on organizations with someone “at the top” who collects information and issues orders that trickle down the hierarchy until they reach the rest of us. Even portions of our economic system work in this fashion. The reason organizations exist is because they work well in many situations. But there is another view of the world that is entirely different. This view starts at the “bottom,” and realizes that much of the organization that we see does not stem from centralized control, but emerges from the local interactions of a multitude of entities (as with insects, people, vehicles, and the movement of money). These multitudes are swarms. Standard approaches to understanding swarms rely on inspiration from biology. These are called “biomimetic” approaches. In this book, we focus on a different inspiration, namely, physics. We refer to physics-based swarm approaches as “physicomimetics.” Both approaches are complementary, but physics-based approaches offer two unique advantages. The first is that these approaches capture the notion that “nature is lazy.” This means that physical systems always perform the minimal amount of work necessary. This is very important for swarm robotics, because robots are always limited by the amount of power they have at their disposal. The second advantage is that physics is the most predictive science, and it can reduce complex systems to amazingly simple concepts and equations. These concepts and equations codify emergent beh
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