Dresden 2020 – scientific programme

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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik

CPP 34: Microswimmers (joint session DY/CPP)

CPP 34.8: Talk

Monday, March 16, 2020, 17:15–17:30, ZEU 160

Feedback Control of Multiple Active Microswimmers — •Alexander Fischer and Frank Cichos — Uni Leipzig

Collective motion created by the interaction of autonomous individu- als plays a major role in flocks of birds, bacterial growth or the motion of robotic swarms. Sensing and reacting to signals is a fundamental issue of life. Microswimmers, which are artificial objects that mimic the active motion of biological systems, do not have such sensing and response features built in yet, but may gain them through an external control of their propulsion. Here we explore the emergent collective behavior as a result of an information exchange between artificial microswimmers by computer-controlled feedback processes. We have created a setup where multiple active microswimmers can react to their position in space or their distance to other microswimmers [1]. Our system consists of autonomous agents performing directed motion in a plane and their orientation is subject to noise. We study in particular the delayed response of the swimmers to environmental signals, where the swimmers remember previous information on a signaling landscape or infer future signals from the experience. We find that this type of delayed response is changing the collective behavior.

[1] U. Khadka, V. Holubec, H. Yang, F. Cichos, Nat. Commun. 9, 3864 (2018)