A swarm is a group of independent agents that gather together in order to collectively carry out a certain task. Typically, each agent exhibits a very simple behaviour pattern that is influenced by direct or indirect interactions with other swarm members. As a result, the swarm as a whole may exhibit complex and intelligent behaviour patterns. In nature, swarms can be observed in social insects, fish schools, but also in primitive single cell organisms.
VLab provides a range of demonstration models that exemplify swarm behaviour.
- Wikipedia, Swarm Intelligence, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Swarm_intelligence&oldid=134354778 (as of June 3, 2007)
- Wikipedia, Ant Colony Optimisation, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ant_colony_optimization&oldid=130375279 (as of june 3, 2007)