Plenary lecture: Control and information architectures for formations

Formations of robots, underwater vehicles and autonomous airborne vehicles are slowly being deployed to tackle problems in both civilian and military spheres—bush fire control, surveillance and the like. In many situations, it is desirable that the formation maintain its shape while executing an overall change of location, or change from one shape to another, perhaps to avoid an obstacle; again, on occasions a formation may need to split, or merge with a different formation. Living organisms, especially fish and birds, often exhibit this sort of behaviour.