Bimodal Dynamic Swarms

This paper presents a bimodal control strategy for transitioning between different topologies of flocking and dynamic structures. The work is motivated by applications where agents must pursue and close in on a target prior to carrying out more sophisticated tasks. Specifically, it builds on previous work in consensus-based flocking to define a new type of dynamic target pursuit and capturing method called dynamic enspherement. The problem is formulated in terms of the canonical Reynolds rules and overlapping planes of encirclement using quaternions of arbitrary orientation. A new method for transitioning between flocking and enspherement is presented, the smoothness of which is demonstrated mathematically. The proposed approach is validated in a series of simulations on swarms of particles with double-integrator dynamics.