Communication in Swarms

Swarms cooperate without any central control and act according to simple and local behavior. Only through their interactions a collective behavior can emerge to solve complex tasks. Swarm behavior is inspired by nature such as swarm of bees, flock of birds, or shoal of fish. The concept of swarms is gaining attraction in technical systems, especially in robotics and cyber-physical systems.

Reliable communication is an important requirement for swarms to work effectively. It can either be explicit (exchange of messages) or implicit (reaction on stigmergy) and may be extended to human-machine interaction. Recent advancements in wireless communication including cellular (xG) and Wi-Fi technologies offer high data rates. However, swarm applications require specific communication techniques to facilitate adaptive, scalable, and robust swarm behaviour.

About the Research Days

The Lakeside Research Days are jointly organized by the Lakeside Labs and the Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt as a three-day workshop in July. It takes place at Lakeside Labs in Klagenfurt, Austria, near the beautiful Wörthersee lake and Alps scenery. Invited experts, local professors, and young researchers discuss and elaborate ideas in the field of Self-Organizing Systems. The main emphasis of the workshop is on soliciting discussions and creating new ideas regarding topics related to self-organizing systems. The event greatly supports scientific exchange, networking, the establishment of international collaborations, and joint research projects. The following video gives a nice impression of the Research Days:

Further videos can be found at the Lakeside Labs YouTube channel.
The Research Days have been organized in Klagenfurt since 2008. Notable results from previous Research Days have been research collaborations, several joint papers, organization of conference special sessions, and the conception and submission of joint research projects in the EU framework.