Decentralized Swarm Desynchronization via Inter-agent Variation for Logistical Resupply

Abstract

Decentralized computational swarms have been used to simulate the workings of insect colonies or hives, often utilizing a response threshold model which underlies agent interaction with dynamic environmental stimuli. Here, we propose a logistics resupply problem in which agents must select from multiple incoming scheduled tasks that generate competing resource demands for workers. This work diverges from previous attempts toward analyzing swarm behaviors by examining relative amounts of stress placed on a multi-agent system in conjunction with two mechanisms of response: variable threshold distribution, or duration level. Further, we demonstrate changes to the general swarm performance’s dependence on paired desynchronization type and schedule design, as the result of varied swarm conditions.