Swarming, swirling and stasis in sequestered bristle-bots

TL;DR

This study investigates how simple self-propelled robots called Bristle-Bots transition from disordered to organized collective motion, such as swirling or stasis, driven by shape, environment, and a key behavioral parameter.

Contribution

It demonstrates how a single parameter controlling spinning versus walking in Bristle-Bots governs their collective behavior under confinement.

Findings

Transition from disordered to collective motion with increased density

Swirling clusters or static states emerge based on the control parameter

Agent shape and environment significantly influence collective dynamics

Abstract

The collective ability of organisms to move coherently in space and time is ubiquitous in any group of autonomous agents that can move and sense each other and the environment. Here we investigate the origin of collective motion and its loss using macroscopic self-propelled Bristle-Bots, simple automata made from a toothbrush and powered by an onboard cell phone vibrator-motor, that can sense each other through shape-dependent local interactions, and can also sense the environment non-locally via the effects of confinement and substrate topography. We show that when Bristle-Bots are confined to a limited arena with a soft boundary, increasing the density drives a transition from a disordered and uncoordinated motion to organized collective motion either as a swirling cluster or a collective dynamical stasis. This transition is regulated by a single parameter, the relative magnitude of spinning and walking in a single automaton. We explain this using quantitative experiments and simulations that emphasize the role of the agent shape, environment, and confinement via boundaries. Our study shows how the behavioral repertoire of these physically interacting automatons controlled by one parameter translates into the mechanical intelligence of swarms.