Programmable self-organization of heterogeneous microrobot collectives.

ABSTRACT: At the microscale, coupled physical interactions between collectives of agents can be exploited to enable self-organization. Past systems typically consist of identical agents; however, heterogeneous agents can exhibit asymmetric pairwise interactions which can be used to generate more diverse patterns of self-organization. Here, we study the effect of size heterogeneity in microrobot collectives composed of circular, magnetic microdisks on a fluid-air interface. Each microrobot spins or oscillates about its center axis in response to an external oscillating magnetic field, in turn producing local magnetic, hydrodynamic, and capillary forces that enable diverse collective behaviors. We demonstrate through physical experiments and simulations that the heterogeneous collective can exploit th

SUBMITTER: Ceron S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10268276 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature