What are some good resources on flocking and swarm algorithms?

Question

Awhile ago I read the novel Prey. Even though it is definitely in the realm of fun science fiction, it piqued my interest in swarm/flock AI. I've been seeing some examples of these demos recently on reddit such as the Nvidia plane flocking video and Chris Benjaminsen's flocking sandbox (source).

I'm interested in writing some simulation demos involving swarm or flocking AI. I've taken Artificial Intelligence in college but we never approached the subject of simulating swarming/flocking behaviors and a quick flip through my textbook reveals that it isn't dicussed.

_{Flocking Sandbox}

What are some solid resources for learning some of the finer points around flock/swarm algorithms? Does anyone have any experience in this field so they could point me in the right direction concerning a well suited AI book or published papers?

Answer 1

there are a few techniques that you may want to read up on:

1. Ant Colony Optmiziation
2. Celluar Automata
3. Self Organizing Maps

Also: The wiki page isn't a bad start.

Answer 2

What you're asking for is actually much more simple than you think. The canonical source is http://www.red3d.com/cwr/boids/.