Facultative Swarming: A Capability, Not a Category, for Multi-Robot Systems

arXiv:2610.32526v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Collective robotics is split by a long-standing but increasingly artificial boundary between centralised multi-robot systems that prioritise optimality and decentralised swarms that prioritise robustness and adaptivity. We propose a unified control framework, shifting from `obligate' swarms---systems constrained to pure self-organisation---to facultatively swarming systems: hybrid architectures that operate as centrally planned systems under permissive conditions yet degrade gracefully into decentralised swarming under environmental stress. By reframing swarming as a dynamic capability, rather than a rigid system category, we outline a pathway towards collective robotic systems that benefit from centralised optimality when conditions permit and from the flexibility of self-organisation when they do not.