Dynamics of cooperative excavation in ant and robot collectives.

ABSTRACT: The solution of complex problems by the collective action of simple agents in both biologically evolved and synthetically engineered systems involves cooperative action. Understanding the resulting emergent solutions requires integrating across the organismal behavior of many individuals. Here, we investigate an ecologically relevant collective task in black carpenter ants Camponotus pennsylvanicus: excavation of a soft, erodible confining corral. These ants show a transition from individual exploratory excavation at random locations to spatially localized collective exploitative excavation and escape from the corral. Agent-based simulations and a minimal continuum theory that coarse-grains over individual actions and considers their integrated influence on the environment leads to

SUBMITTER: Prasath SG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9894586 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature