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arXiv · 2610.32526

Facultative Swarming: A Capability, Not a Category, for Multi-Robot Systems

Ning Zhou·Edmund R. Hunt
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Abstract

Collective robotics is split by a long-standing but increasingly artificial boundary between centralised multi-robot systems that prioritise optimality and decentralised swarms that prioritise robustness and adaptivity. We propose a unified control framework, shifting from `obligate' swarms---systems constrained to pure self-organisation---to facultatively swarming systems: hybrid architectures that operate as centrally planned systems under permissive conditions yet degrade gracefully into decentralised swarming under environmental stress. By reframing swarming as a dynamic capability, rather than a rigid system category, we outline a pathway towards collective robotic systems that benefit from centralised optimality when conditions permit and from the flexibility of self-organisation when they do not.

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Ning Zhou, Edmund R. Hunt. 2026-10-23. Facultative Swarming: A Capability, Not a Category, for Multi-Robot Systems. https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.32526

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