Related papers: Limit cycles turn active matter into robots
Mobile microscopic bodies, such as motile cells, can be modelled phenomenologically as ``active particles'' which can move against external forces by depleting an internal energy depot. The microscopic mechanisms underlying such ``active''…
Dense active matter, from bacterial suspensions and microtubule bundles driven by motor proteins to cellular monolayers and synthetic Janus particles, is characterised by mesoscale turbulence, the emergence of chaotic flow structures. By…
Living things enact control of non-equilibrium, dynamical structures through complex biochemical networks, accomplishing spatiotemporally-orchestrated physiological tasks such as cell division, motility, and embryogenesis. While the exact…
Hooke's law states that the forces or stresses experienced by an elastic object are proportional to the applied deformations or strains. The number of coefficients of proportionality between stress and strain, i.e., the elastic moduli, is…
Passivity is necessary for robots to fluidly collaborate and interact with humans physically. Nevertheless, due to the unconstrained nature of passivity-based impedance control laws, the robot is vulnerable to infeasible and unsafe…
An asymmetric two-link robot supported atop a flat platform by wheels that roll and pivot freely, but do not slip laterally, will develop forward momentum if the joint between the links is actuated internally. In particular, oscillations in…
Natural systems integrate the work of many sub-units (cells) toward a large-scale unified goal (morphological and behavioral), which can counteract the effects of unexpected experiences, damage, or simply changes in tasks demands. In this…
Synthetic active collectives, composed of many nonliving individuals capable of cooperative changes in group shape and dynamics, hold promise for practical applications and for the elucidation of guiding principles of natural collectives.…
Vibrated granular matter constitutes a useful system for studying the physics of active matter. Usually, self-propulsion is induced in grains through suitable asymmetry in the particle design. In this paper, we show that a symmetrical mini…
Oscillators and rotators are among the most important physical systems. For centuries the only known rotating systems that actually reached the limits of the ideal situation of undamped periodical motion were the planets in their orbits.…
Surface-driven flows are ubiquitous in nature, from subcellular cytoplasmic streaming to organ-scale ciliary arrays. Here, we model how confined geometries can be used to engineer complex hydrodynamic patterns driven by activity prescribed…
The design of amorphous entangled systems, specifically from soft and active materials, has the potential to open exciting new classes of active, shape-shifting, and task-capable 'smart' materials. However, the global emergent mechanics…
Friction is central to the motion of active (self-propelled) objects such as bacteria, animals, and robots. While in a viscous fluid friction is described by Stokes's law, objects in contact with other solid bodies are often governed by…
Odd elasticity describes the unusual elastic response of solids whose stress-strain relationship is not compatible with an elastic potential. Here, we present a study of odd elasticity in a driven granular matter system composed of grains…
Non-reciprocal interactions fueled by local energy consumption can be found in biological and synthetic active matter at scales where viscoelastic forces are important. Such systems can be described by "odd" viscoelasticity, which assumes…
Rotation may affect the occurrence of sustainable hydrogen burning in very low-mass stellar objects by the introduction of centrifugal force to the hydrostatic balance as well as by the appearance of rotational break-up of the objects…
The field of synthetic active matter has, thus far, been led by efforts to create point-like, isolated (yet interacting) self-propelled objects (\emph{e.g.} colloids, droplets, microrobots) and understanding their collective dynamics. The…
Odd materials feature antisymmetric response to perturbations. This anomalous property can stem from the nonequilibrium activity of their components, which is sustained by an external energy supply. These materials open the door to…
Active systems, from bacterial suspensions to cellular monolayers, are continuously driven out of equilibrium by local injection of energy from their constituent elements and exhibit turbulent-like and chaotic patterns. Here we demonstrate…
Recent advances in the field of active soft matter promise a lot. Both, experimental advances and theoretical understanding point towards new material classes in reach, for example self-healing materials that might switch their properties…