Frenkel, WiebkeWiebkeFrenkelRenner, Bernd-ChristianBernd-ChristianRenner2026-02-102026-02-102025-09-0322nd European Conference on Multi-Agent Systems, EUMAS 2025https://hdl.handle.net/11420/61451Swarms of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) offer apromising solution for complex missions in dynamic environments withlimited communication. Unforeseen events, such as currents, equipmentfailures, or energy shortages, can prevent some AUVs from completingtasks, requiring rapid redistribution among the remaining vehicles.Decentralized coordination under such conditions is challenging, especiallywithout reliable feedback on overall mission progress. This workinvestigates a decentralized decision-making process for task reallocation,grounded in opinion dynamics. A key parameter is an agent’s stubbornness,capturing the tendency to persist with an opinion despite uncertainty.Stubbornness influences when and how the swarm reassigns tasks.Simulations across cooperation strategies and swarm compositions showthat allowing controlled divergence in agent opinions, rather than enforcingrapid consensus, improves mission success and resilience. Diverseviewpoints reduce groupthink, encourage exploration, and support flexibleadaptation to environmental changes. These results highlight thepotential of simple, decentralized heuristics like adaptive stubbornnessfor robust coordination in uncertain underwater environments.enhttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/AUV SwarmOpinion DynamicsSelf OrganizationSwarm IntelligenceTechnology::629: Other Branches::629.8: Control and Feedback Control Systems::629.89: Computer-Controlled Guidance::629.892: RobotTechnology::623: Military Engineering and Marine Engineering::623.8: Naval Architecture; ShipbuildingComputer Science, Information and General Works::003: Systems Theory::003.5: Communication and ControlComputer Science, Information and General Works::006: Special computer methods::006.3: Artificial IntelligenceConference Paperhttps://doi.org/10.15480/882.1665610.15480/882.16656Conference Paper