Related papers: Optimal Control Strategies for Active Particle Nav…
We design new navigation strategies for travel time optimization of microscopic self-propelled particles in complex and noisy environments. In contrast to strategies relying on the results of optimal control theory, these protocols allow…
Contrasting the well explored problem on how to steer a macroscopic agent like an airplane or a moon lander to optimally reach a target, "optimal microswimming", i.e. the quest for the optimal navigation strategy for microswimmers, remains…
Zermelo's navigation problem seeks the trajectory of minimal travel time between two points in a fluid flow. We address this problem for an agent -- such as a micro-robot or active particle -- that is advected by a two-dimensional flow,…
The development of self-propelled particles at the micro- and the nanoscale has sparked a huge potential for future applications in active matter physics, microsurgery, and targeted drug delivery. However, while the latter applications…
The question of how "smart" active agents, like insects, microorganisms, or future colloidal robots need to steer to optimally reach or discover a target, such as an odor source, food, or a cancer cell in a complex environment has recently…
We experimentally and numerically study the dependence of different navigation strategies regarding the effectivity of an active particle to reach a predefined target area. As the only control parameter, we vary the particle's propulsion…
We present theoretical and numerical results concerning the problem to find the path that minimizes the time to navigate between two given points in a complex fluid under realistic navigation constraints. We contrast deterministic Optimal…
Smart active particles can acquire some limited knowledge of the fluid environment from simple mechanical cues and exert a control on their preferred steering direction. Their goal is to learn the best way to navigate by exploiting the…
We consider the problem of a particle traveling from an initial configuration to a final configuration (given by a point in the plane along with a prescribed velocity vector) in minimum time with non-homogeneous velocity and with…
We study the energetic efficiency of navigating microswimmers by explicitly taking into account the geometry of their body. We show that, as their shape transitions from prolate to oblate, non-steering microswimmers rotated by flow…
We investigate exploration patterns of a microswimmer, modeled as an active Brownian particle, searching for a target region located in a well of an energy landscape and separated from the initial position of the particle by high barriers.…
Efficient point-to-point navigation in the presence of a background flow field is important for robotic applications such as ocean surveying. In such applications, robots may only have knowledge of their immediate surroundings or be faced…
Marine microorganisms must cope with complex flow patterns and even turbulence as they navigate the ocean. To survive they must avoid predation and find efficient energy sources. A major difficulty in analysing possible survival strategies…
Efficient navigation in swarms often relies on the emergence of decentralized approaches that minimize traversal time or energy. Stigmergy, where agents modify a shared environment that then modifies their behavior, is a classic mechanism…
Finding the fastest path to a desired destination is a vitally important task for microorganisms moving in a fluid flow. We study this problem by building an analytical formalism for overdamped microswimmers on curved manifolds and…
This paper is concerned with finding an optimal path for an observer, or sensor, moving at a constant speed, which is to estimate the position of a stationary target, using only bearing angle measurements. The generated path is optimal in…
This extended abstracts presents a method to generate energy-optimal trajectories for multi-agent systems as a strategic-form game. Using recent results in optimal control, we demonstrate that an energy-optimal trajectory can be generated…
Navigation in complex and noisy environments is a key issue in diverse fields from biology to engineering. Despite extensive progress in numerical optimization methods for computing navigation policies, insights into how disorder reshapes…
Pursuing a drifting target in a turbulent flow is an extremely difficult task whenever the searcher has limited propulsion and maneuvering capabilities. Even in the case when the relative distance between pursuer and target stays below the…
Optimizing the energy efficiency of driving processes provides valuable insights into the underlying physics and is of crucial importance for numerous applications, from biological processes to the design of machines and robots. Knowledge…