Biomimetic Algorithms for Coordinated Motion: Theory and Implementation

Drawing inspiration from flight behavior in biological settings (e.g. territorial battles in dragonflies, and flocking in starlings), this paper demonstrates two strategies for coverage and flocking. Using earlier theoretical studies on mutual motion camouflage, an appropriate steering control law for area coverage has been implemented in a laboratory test-bed equipped with wheeled mobile robots and a Vicon high speed motion capture system. The same test-bed is also used to demonstrate another strategy (based on local information), termed topological velocity alignment, which serves to make agents move in the same direction. The present work illustrates the applicability of biological inspiration in the design of multi-agent robotic collectives

Path-integral action of a particle in the noncommutative phase-space

In this paper we construct a path integral formulation of quantum mechanics on noncommutative phase-space. We first map the system to an equivalent system on the noncommutative plane. Then by applying the formalism of representing a quantum system in the space of Hilbert-Schmidt operators acting on noncommutative configuration space, the path integral action of a particle is derived. It is observed that the action has a similar form to that of a particle in a magnetic field in the noncommutative plane. From this action the energy spectrum is obtained for the free particle and the harmonic oscillator potential. We also show that the nonlocal nature (in time) of the action yields a second class constrained system from which the noncommutative Heisenberg algebra can be recovered.Comment: 9 pages Late