A study on hydrodynamics interaction in collective motion

Biological collective behavior is a widespread phenomenon in nature, such as fish schools, bird flocks and ants swarms, these animal groups clearly display structural order. Fish schools are fascinating phenomenon of long-term interest in physics and ethology. Hydrodynamic interactions play a key role in the movement of fish schools. However, this influence remains poorly understood, in part due to the difficulty in modeling the temporally long-lived hydrodynamic interactions between many dynamic bodies. We present here an experimental platform based on target detection, tracking and control for understanding the hydrodynamic interactions among swimmers at high Reynolds number. We realized the synchronous and independent control of multiple miniature toy submarines, by using computer vision, deep learning and wireless communication. The platform provided guidance for the subsequent research on hydrodynamics interaction and formation control strategy.