Learning Collective Dynamics of Multi-Agent Systems using Event-based Vision

The systems of large number (>10) of agents, hereafter referred to as a multi-agent system, are crucial in a wide range of autonomy applications, including swarm robotics [1] and fleets of autonomous vehicles [2]. Inspired by collective behaviors observed in nature such as fish schools and bird flocks, these systems aim to achieve collective goals through the interaction among individual agents using a set of decentralized rules. Analytical flocking models such as Reynolds model [3] or Vicsek model [4] replicate collective behaviors observed in nature, but these models require precise localization which is rarely possible in the real-world applications. Therefore, real-time prediction of collective behavior, like how and when agents will achieve a collective goal, is essential for adapting the local rules and controlling multi-agent systems in a real-world environment [5, 6] as illustrated in Figure 1. This prediction is valuable in competitive settings like swarm herding [7], where understanding the system dynamics of adversarial agents can enhance strategic control.