Self-organized Flocking in Three Dimensions

This paper introduces a novel methodology for achieving self-organized flocking behavior entirely in three dimensions, building upon the active elastic model. Through comprehensive evaluations made with kinematic and dynamic simulations, as well as through a real-world implementation with Crazyflie nano drones, we demonstrate the feasibility and robustness of our approach under various operational constraints. Our findings show that the system scalability to larger swarm sizes has a stronger dependence to parameters, in particular to the strength of the formation, compared to the two dimensional counterpart. The successful deployment of this methodology in an indoor environment, where the system navigates physical boundaries and demonstrates cohesive and ordered motion, showcases its potential applications in surveillance, search and rescue, and environmental monitoring. This work paves the way for future research in advanced swarm behaviors and underscores the practical applicability of three-dimensional flocking in robotic swarms.