Flock
Interaction Rule
Order Φ0.00
Mean heading—
Rule—
Topological vs. Metric
Metric: interact with all birds within radius R. Robust to density but not to density fluctuations.
Topological: interact with k nearest neighbors regardless of distance. STARFLAG project (Rome 2008) showed starlings use k≈7. This makes the flock robust to density perturbations — a predator can't isolate birds by just stretching the flock.
Metric: interact with all birds within radius R. Robust to density but not to density fluctuations.
Topological: interact with k nearest neighbors regardless of distance. STARFLAG project (Rome 2008) showed starlings use k≈7. This makes the flock robust to density perturbations — a predator can't isolate birds by just stretching the flock.