Theory 034/Robotics & Autonomy

Swarms Need Density

The claim

Swarm coordination emerges only above a threshold in communication neighbour density, below which the group fragments into independent agents.

01The mechanism

Flocking requires each agent to have enough neighbours to estimate the local order; below the threshold, estimates are too noisy to sustain alignment.

02Predictions

P1Coordination should appear at a density threshold.
P2Adding range without density should not help.

03Refutation

Coordination scaling smoothly with range would remove the threshold.