In the past, people have not understood how a sheepdog can easily manage more than 80 sheep.
British researchers finally solved this mystery, and the research report was published in the well-known academic journal "Royal Society Interface Journal" published on the 26th.
The researchers fastened GPS gps on the backs of an Australian Calby Shepherd and 46 Merino sheep, left them on a 5-hectare patch of grass, and then built precise computer models based on their location movement information.
The researchers found that sheepdogs followed a set of "two-step" principles that could easily handle dozens of sheep. First, the shepherd dog runs back and forth between the left and right sides of the flock, thus driving the flock together and avoiding "leaving the sheep alone". Second, after "holding" the flock, the shepherd will drive the flock forward towards its intended destination.
According to Andrew King, a professor at Swansea University in the United Kingdom, the "wish" of the shepherd is simple: there is always a furry "big white ball" in front of the eyes, not a fragmented "little white ball", and everything will be fine.
Therefore, if this "big white group" has cracks, or even the cracks are getting bigger and bigger, the sheepdog will be alert and quickly follow the "two-step" principle, so that many "little white groups" can regain great unity.
Daniel Strombham, a professor at uppsala university in Sweden, said: "In this model, shepherds are judging whether the flock is 'unified' at any time and anywhere. If it is not 'unified', it will try to make it 'unified'; if it is 'unified', it will drive the flock forward. ”
King said the latest research can be applied in a variety of areas, including group control, environmental cleanliness, grazing cattle, avoiding animals straying into sensitive areas, and manipulating collective robots. (Yang Shuyi)