Cohesiveness analysis of hybrid swarm systems based on artificial potential functions

In this paper, attraction and repulsion forces based on artificial potential functions (APF) are introduced to characterize cohesiveness for a class of swarm systems with switching coupling topology. The hybrid swarm model is more suitable to describe swarm aggregation with limited sensing ability. Conditions for the collective behavior of the hybrid swarm systems were analyzed which shows that individuals will converge to a bounded region in a finite time. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed model.