Multi-robot System Based on Model of Wolf Hunting Behavior to Emulate Wolf and Elk Interactions

Wolves are one of the most successful large predators on earth. Their success is made apparent by their presence in most northern ecosystems. They owe much of this success to their generalized hunting behavior which allows them to quickly and effectively adjust to different species of prey. The success of this hunting behavior for wolves is the inspiration for a project to bestow this behavior onto a system of robots with the hopes that they might utilize the apparent strengths of the behavior to achieve their own success

Lek Behavior as a Model for Multi-Robot Systems

Lek behavior is a biological mechanism used by male birds to attract mates by forming a group. This project explores the use of a biological behavior found in many species of birds to form leks to guide the creation of groups of robots. The lek behavior provides a sound basis for multi-robot formation because it demonstrates a group of individual entities forming up around a scarce resource. This behavior can be useful to robots in many situations, with an example scenario the case in which robots were dropped via parachute into an area and then needed to form meaningful task-oriented groups