Noise induced escape in delay coupled mixed-reality systems

Networks of coupled subsystems are common in many fields, from biology to epidemiology and robotics. The emergent behaviors of these systems depend on the nature of the interaction and the communication network. It is now well-known that delay in communication between individual agents significantly impacts dynamic pattern formation. In addition, noise propagation through coupling can lead to complex system-wide behaviors. We consider a mixed-reality (MR) system in which delay-coupled real and simulated agents fly together in formation, and show how noise acting on the real agents can induce a large transition in the simulated agents. In order to address this problem, we first analyze a generic model of two weakly delay-coupled dynamical systems. We show how noise in one system can drive a catastrophic state transition in the other, even as the noisy system exhibits only small random oscillations; further, we show how the expected transition time scales as a function of the coupling strength and communication delay. We use an analogous approach to study changes in the flight formation of MR agents.