ABSTRACT
Collective systems (CS) play a very important role on earth. We
encounter them in all sizes, at all scales, and in all forms, in biological
and technological systems, in the oceans, in the air, and on the
ground. Basically, life, as we know it, is impossible without collective
forms of existence. There are many examples: viruses [Carter and
Saunders (1997)], different colloidal systems [Fujita and Yamaguchi
(2009)], [Hunter (1989)], nano-and microscale particles [Schmid
(2004)], the rich world of social insects and animals [Bonabeau
et al. (1999)], vehicles and airplanes [Helbing (1997)], and softwareintensive [Ledeczi et al. (2000)] and software-emergent systems. CS in robotics vary from the nanoscale [Nelson et al. (2008)] to large space-exploration robots [Ellery (2000)]. To some extent, CS
are ubiquitous. Such prevalence and diversity can be explained
by several unique properties, for example, scalability, reliability,
flexibility, and self-developmental capabilities. Some features of CS
are well understood; others are still the subject of multidisciplinary
research.
