Swarm analytics: Designing information markers to characterise swarm systems in shepherding contexts

• Published in: Adaptive behavior 2023-08, Vol.31 (4), p.323-349
• Main Authors: Hepworth, Adam J, Hussein, Aya, Reid, Darryn J, Abbass, Hussein A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1059-7123; 1741-2633
• DOI: 10.1177/10597123221137090

Contemporary swarm indicators are often used in isolation, focussed on extracting information at the individual or collective levels. Consequently, these are seldom integrated to infer a top-level operating picture of the swarm, its members and its overall collective dynamics. The primary contribution of this paper is to organise a suite of indicators about swarms into an ontologically arranged collection of information markers to characterise the swarm from the perspective of an external observer – , a recognition agent. Our contribution shows the foundations for a new area of research that we title swarm analytics, whose primary concern is with the design and organisation of collections of swarm markers to understand, detect, recognise, track and learn a particular insight about a swarm system. We present our designed framework of information markers that offer a new avenue for swarm research, especially for heterogeneous and cognitive swarms that may require more advanced capabilities to detect agencies and categorise agent influences and responses.