Collective behavior models, such as aggregation and flocking, usually assume self-propelled robots that can directly execute their desired speed and direction of motion without fundamental constraints. However, autonomous sailing robots violate this assumption. Their motion is shaped by wind-dependent propulsion, restricted headings, and spatially varying wind conditions. In particular, maneuverability is coupled to wind speed: in weak wind, sailboats may turn only slowly or not at all, whereas stronger wind enables faster turns. This introduces transient heterogeneity in speed and maneuverability across the flock. We focus on this fast-slow coordination problem in sailing robot flocks. To study this problem, we introduce SailSwarmSwIM, a reduced-order simulator for autonomous sailing robot swarms that captures wind-dependent speed and maneuverability, no-go zones, tacking behavior, and steady or gusty wind fields. To design our novel flocking technique, we start from the Couzin model and introduce a speed-weighted social interaction rule that accounts for each robot's transient motion constraints. A key result is that increasing the social influence of slower robots improves polarization and reduces close encounters. This effect arises from a balance between attraction to fast neighbors, which helps maintain movement, and cohesion around slow neighbors, which prevents the flock from fragmenting. Together, our simulator, SailSwarmSwIM, and the speed-weighted interaction rule provide a modeling framework for studying adaptive collective behavior in robotic fleets whose motion capabilities are continuously shaped by wind.

翻译：集体行为模型（如聚集和群集）通常假设自推进机器人能够直接执行其期望的运动速度和方向，而无需考虑基本约束。然而，自主帆船机器人违背了这一假设。它们的运动受风驱动推进、受限航向以及空间变化的风况共同影响。尤其值得注意的是，机动性与风速耦合：在弱风条件下，帆船可能只能缓慢转向甚至完全无法转向，而强风则能实现快速转向。这导致群集中速度和机动性出现瞬态异质性。我们聚焦于帆船机器人群集中的快-慢协调问题。为研究该问题，我们提出了SailSwarmSwIM——一个用于自主帆船机器人群集的降阶模拟器，该模拟器捕捉了风依赖的速度和机动性、禁航区、换舷行为以及稳态或阵风风场。为设计新型群集技术，我们从Couzin模型出发，引入了一种考虑每个机器人瞬态运动约束的速度加权社交交互规则。关键结果表明，增加慢速机器人的社交影响力可提高极化程度并减少近距离接触。这种效应源于对快速邻居的吸引（有助于维持运动）与围绕慢速邻居的内聚（防止群集分裂）之间的平衡。综合来看，我们的模拟器SailSwarmSwIM和速度加权交互规则为研究运动能力持续受风场塑造的机器人舰队中的自适应集体行为提供了建模框架。