Dynamic Swarm Formation with Potential Fields and A* Path Planning in 3D Environment

A dynamic swarm formation based in artificial potential fields is presented and extended to 3D environments. A dynamic technic to adjust the swarm configuration when avoiding obstacles is also proposed. Using potential fields in conjunction with a global planner like the A* algorithm allows the navigation through an environment in presence of obstacles. The global planner finds an obstacle free path using a discrete representation of the world and this path is used to guide the center of the swarm formation. Potential field is used to control the swarm formation and to avoid obstacles locally when travelling the planned path. Simulation results are presented for swarm of particles of different sizes in 2D and 3D worlds.