Swarm autopilot

A method for controlling a plurality of robotic agents, the method comprising:

• storing, in each of the robotic agents, a respective first parameter value;
• sending, by a first robotic agent of the plurality of robotic agents, the respective first parameter value to each of a plurality of first close neighbor robotic agents of the plurality of robotic agents, each of the first close neighbor robotic agents having a distance, to the first robotic agent, less than a threshold distance,
• receiving, by the first robotic agent, a respective first parameter value from each of the first close neighbor robotic agents,
• calculating, by the first robotic agent, a new first parameter value, the calculating comprising calculating an average of:
• the first parameter value of the first robotic agent;
• and
• the received first parameter values;
• updating the first parameter value of the first robotic agent to equal the new first parameter value;
• calculating, by the first robotic agent, an estimated gradient of:
• the first parameter value of the first robotic agent;
• and
• the received first parameter values;
• calculating, by the first robotic agent, a resultant virtual force vector as a sum of one or more vector quantities including the estimated gradient;
• and
• generating, by the first robotic agent, a net thrust force, on the first robotic agent, parallel to the resultant virtual force vector.