Swarm Intelligence

The laws that govern the collective behavior of social insects, flocks of birds, or fish schools continue to mesmerize researchers. While individuals are rather unsophisticated, in cooperation they can solve complex tasks, a prime example being the ability of ant colonies to find shortest paths between their nests and food sources. Task-solving results from self-organization, which often evolves from simple means of communication, either directly or indirectly via changing the environment, the latter referred to as stigmergy. Scientists have applied these principles in new approaches, for example to optimization and the control of robots. Characteristics of the resulting systems include robustness and flexibility. This field of research is now referred to as swarm intelligence.