RQC Seminar

88th RQC Seminar

• Speaker

  Prof. Igor Aronson
  ( College of Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, USA )

• Date

  16:00-17:00, October 26th, 2023

• Venue

  Hybrid(ZOOM・ Wako Main Research 3F 345-347 Seminar Room　C01）

• Title

  Acoustically Communicating Active Smarms

• Inquiries

  rqc_info[at]ml.riken.jp

Abstract
Microrobotic swarms play a crucial role in pollutant foraging threat detection, and tissue embolization. In nature, animals like bats and whales use acoustic signals to communicate and enhance their evolutionary competitiveness. This feature is mostly lacking in simple microrobots, while it could significantly enhance their functionality and efficiency. We demonstrate that information exchange by acoustic waves between the microrobots creates a slew of multifunctional structures. In our realization, each unit is equipped with an acoustic emitter and a detector. The swarmers respond to the resulting acoustic field by adjusting their emission frequency and migrating toward the strongest signal. We find self-organized structures with different morphology, including snake-like self-propelled entities, localized aggregates, and spinning vortices. The structures exhibit emergent functionalities, such as targeted aggregation and dispersal upon a signal, boundary guidance, shape memory, and self-regeneration after strong distortion that allows them to penetrate through narrow constrictions. Our results provide insights into the design principles of communicating microrobotic swarms capable of performing complex tasks and responding to external controls.