Related papers: Building granular structures with elasto-active sy…
Atomistic deformation simulations in the nominally elastic regime are performed for a model binary glass with strain rates as low as $10^{4}$/sec (corresponding to 0.01 shear strain per 1$\mu$sec). A robust elasticity is revealed that…
A primary motivation for our research in digital ecosystems is the desire to exploit the self-organising properties of biological ecosystems. Ecosystems are thought to be robust, scalable architectures that can automatically solve complex,…
While natural systems often present collective intelligence that allows them to self-organize and adapt to changes, the equivalent is missing in most artificial systems. We explore the possibility of such a system in the context of…
The paper addresses a common assumption of elastoplastic modeling: that the recoverable, elastic strain increment is unaffected by alterations of the elastic moduli that accompany loading. This assumption is found to be false for a granular…
Cellular structures must organize themselves within strict physical constraints, operating with finite resources and well-defined boundaries. Classical systems demonstrate only passive responses to boundaries, from surface energy…
The term active matter describes diverse systems, spanning macroscopic (e.g. shoals of fish and flocks of birds) to microscopic scales (e.g. migrating cells, motile bacteria and gels formed through the interaction of nanoscale molecular…
These lecture notes are designed to provide a brief introduction into the phenomenology of active matter and to present some of the analytical tools used to rationalize the emergent behavior of active systems. Such systems are made of…
Dielectric elastomers (DEs) that couple deformation and electrostatics have the potential for use in soft sensors and actuators with applications ranging from robotic, biomedical, energy, aerospace and automotive technologies. However,…
This work views the multi-agent system and its surrounding environment as a co-evolving system, where the behavior of one affects the other. The goal is to take both agent actions and environment configurations as decision variables, and…
Collective adaptive systems are an emerging class of networked computational systems, particularly suited in application domains such as smart cities, complex sensor networks, and the Internet of Things. These systems tend to feature large…
Many living and artificial systems show a similar emergent behavior and collective motions on different scales, starting from swarms of bacteria to synthetic active particles, herds of mammals and crowds of people. What all these systems…
Colloidal gel networks are disordered elastic solids that can form even in extremely dilute particle suspensions. With interaction strengths comparable to the thermal energy, their stress-bearing network can locally restructure via breaking…
Models and simulations of collective behaviours are often based on considering them as assumed by interactive particle systems. The focus is then on behavioural and interaction rules by using approaches based on artificial agents designed…
Discrete simulation methods are efficient tools to investigate the complex behaviors of complex fluids made of either dry granular materials or dilute suspensions. By contrast, materials made of soft and/or concentrated units (emulsions,…
Mixtures of active and passive particles are ubiquitous at the microscale. Many essential microbial processes involve interactions with dead or immotile cells or passive crowders. When passive objects are immersed in active baths, their…
In this paper, we present an approach for dynamic exploration and mapping of unknown environments using a swarm of biobotic sensing agents, with a stochastic natural motion model and a leading agent (e.g., an unmanned aerial vehicle). The…
The ability of mechanical systems to perform basic computations has gained traction over recent years, providing an unconventional alternative to digital computing in off grid, low power, and severe environments which render the majority of…
Spatial ecological networks are widely used to model interactions between georeferenced biological entities (e.g., populations or communities). The analysis of such data often leads to a two-step approach where groups containing similar…
Elastic metamaterials are often designed for a single permanent function. We explore the possibility of altering a material's function repeatedly through a self-organization, "training" process, controlled by applied strains. We show that…
Continuous adaptation allows survival in an ever-changing world. Adjustments in the synaptic coupling strength between neurons are essential for this capability, setting us apart from simpler, hard-wired organisms. How these changes can be…