An approach to flocking of robots using minimal local sensing and common orientation

Abstract. A new algorithm for the control of robot flocking is presented. Flocks of mobile robots are created by the use of local control rules in a fully distributed way, using just local information from simple infra-red sensors and global heading information on each robot. Experiments were done to test the al-gorithm, yielding results in which robots behaved as expected, moving at a rea-sonable velocity and in a cohesive way. Up to seven robots were used in real experiments and up to fifty in simulation