1
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Dasgupta M, Guha S, Armbruster L, Das D, Mitra MK. Nature of barriers determines first passage times in heterogeneous media. SOFT MATTER 2024. [PMID: 39318347 DOI: 10.1039/d4sm00908h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/26/2024]
Abstract
Intuition suggests that passage times across a region increase with the number of barriers along the path. Can this fail depending on the nature of the barrier? To probe this fundamental question, we exactly solve for the first passage time in general d-dimensions for diffusive transport through a spatially patterned array of obstacles - either entropic or energetic, depending on the nature of the obstacles. For energetic barriers, we show that first passage times vary non-monotonically with the number of barriers, while for entropic barriers it increases monotonically. This non-monotonicity for energetic barriers is further reflected in the behaviour of effective diffusivity as well. We then design a simple experiment where a robotic bug navigates in a heterogeneous environment through a spatially patterned array of obstacles to validate our predictions. Finally, using numerical simulations, we show that this non-monotonic behaviour for energetic barriers is general and extends to even super-diffusive transport.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sougata Guha
- Department of Physics, IIT Bombay, Mumbai 400076, India.
- INFN Napoli, Complesso Universitario di Monte S. Angelo, 80126 Napoli, Italy
| | | | - Dibyendu Das
- Department of Physics, IIT Bombay, Mumbai 400076, India.
| | - Mithun K Mitra
- Department of Physics, IIT Bombay, Mumbai 400076, India.
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2
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Arora P, Sadhukhan S, Nandi SK, Bi D, Sood AK, Ganapathy R. A shape-driven reentrant jamming transition in confluent monolayers of synthetic cell-mimics. Nat Commun 2024; 15:5645. [PMID: 38969629 PMCID: PMC11226658 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-49044-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2024] [Accepted: 05/21/2024] [Indexed: 07/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Many critical biological processes, like wound healing, require densely packed cell monolayers/tissues to transition from a jammed solid-like to a fluid-like state. Although numerical studies anticipate changes in the cell shape alone can lead to unjamming, experimental support for this prediction is not definitive because, in living systems, fluidization due to density changes cannot be ruled out. Additionally, a cell's ability to modulate its motility only compounds difficulties since even in assemblies of rigid active particles, changing the nature of self-propulsion has non-trivial effects on the dynamics. Here, we design and assemble a monolayer of synthetic cell-mimics and examine their collective behaviour. By systematically increasing the persistence time of self-propulsion, we discovered a cell shape-driven, density-independent, re-entrant jamming transition. Notably, we observed cell shape and shape variability were mutually constrained in the confluent limit and followed the same universal scaling as that observed in confluent epithelia. Dynamical heterogeneities, however, did not conform to this scaling, with the fast cells showing suppressed shape variability, which our simulations revealed is due to a transient confinement effect of these cells by their slower neighbors. Our experiments unequivocally establish a morphodynamic link, demonstrating that geometric constraints alone can dictate epithelial jamming/unjamming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pragya Arora
- Chemistry and Physics of Materials Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bangalore, 560064, India.
| | - Souvik Sadhukhan
- Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Hyderabad, 500046, India
| | | | - Dapeng Bi
- Department of Physics, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - A K Sood
- Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560012, India
- International Centre for Materials Science, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bangalore, 560064, India
| | - Rajesh Ganapathy
- International Centre for Materials Science, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bangalore, 560064, India.
- School of Advanced Materials (SAMat), Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bangalore, 560064, India.
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3
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Brückner DB, Broedersz CP. Learning dynamical models of single and collective cell migration: a review. REPORTS ON PROGRESS IN PHYSICS. PHYSICAL SOCIETY (GREAT BRITAIN) 2024; 87:056601. [PMID: 38518358 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6633/ad36d2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2023] [Accepted: 03/22/2024] [Indexed: 03/24/2024]
Abstract
Single and collective cell migration are fundamental processes critical for physiological phenomena ranging from embryonic development and immune response to wound healing and cancer metastasis. To understand cell migration from a physical perspective, a broad variety of models for the underlying physical mechanisms that govern cell motility have been developed. A key challenge in the development of such models is how to connect them to experimental observations, which often exhibit complex stochastic behaviours. In this review, we discuss recent advances in data-driven theoretical approaches that directly connect with experimental data to infer dynamical models of stochastic cell migration. Leveraging advances in nanofabrication, image analysis, and tracking technology, experimental studies now provide unprecedented large datasets on cellular dynamics. In parallel, theoretical efforts have been directed towards integrating such datasets into physical models from the single cell to the tissue scale with the aim of conceptualising the emergent behaviour of cells. We first review how this inference problem has been addressed in both freely migrating and confined cells. Next, we discuss why these dynamics typically take the form of underdamped stochastic equations of motion, and how such equations can be inferred from data. We then review applications of data-driven inference and machine learning approaches to heterogeneity in cell behaviour, subcellular degrees of freedom, and to the collective dynamics of multicellular systems. Across these applications, we emphasise how data-driven methods can be integrated with physical active matter models of migrating cells, and help reveal how underlying molecular mechanisms control cell behaviour. Together, these data-driven approaches are a promising avenue for building physical models of cell migration directly from experimental data, and for providing conceptual links between different length-scales of description.
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Affiliation(s)
- David B Brückner
- Institute of Science and Technology Austria, Am Campus 1, 3400 Klosterneuburg, Austria
| | - Chase P Broedersz
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Arnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics and Center for NanoScience, Department of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, Theresienstr. 37, D-80333 Munich, Germany
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4
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Lee SY, Schönhöfer PWA, Glotzer SC. Complex motion of steerable vesicular robots filled with active colloidal rods. Sci Rep 2023; 13:22773. [PMID: 38123626 PMCID: PMC10733302 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-49314-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023] Open
Abstract
While the collective motion of active particles has been studied extensively, effective strategies to navigate particle swarms without external guidance remain elusive. We introduce a method to control the trajectories of two-dimensional swarms of active rod-like particles by confining the particles to rigid bounding membranes (vesicles) with non-uniform curvature. We show that the propelling agents spontaneously form clusters at the membrane wall and collectively propel the vesicle, turning it into an active superstructure. To further guide the motion of the superstructure, we add discontinuous features to the rigid membrane boundary in the form of a kinked tip, which acts as a steering component to direct the motion of the vesicle. We report that the system's geometrical and material properties, such as the aspect ratio and Péclet number of the active rods as well as the kink angle and flexibility of the membrane, determine the stacking of active particles close to the kinked confinement and induce a diverse set of dynamical behaviors of the superstructure, including linear and circular motion both in the direction of, and opposite to, the kink. From a systematic study of these various behaviors, we design vesicles with switchable and reversible locomotions by tuning the confinement parameters. The observed phenomena suggest a promising mechanism for particle transportation and could be used as a basic element to navigate active matter through complex and tortuous environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophie Y Lee
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109, USA
| | - Philipp W A Schönhöfer
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109, USA
| | - Sharon C Glotzer
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109, USA.
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109, USA.
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109, USA.
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5
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McNeill JM, Choi YC, Cai YY, Guo J, Nadal F, Kagan CR, Mallouk TE. Three-Dimensionally Complex Phase Behavior and Collective Phenomena in Mixtures of Acoustically Powered Chiral Microspinners. ACS NANO 2023; 17:7911-7919. [PMID: 37022928 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.3c01966] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
The process of dynamic self-organization of small building blocks is fundamental to the emergent function of living systems and is characteristic of their out-of-equilibrium homeostasis. The ability to control the interactions of synthetic particles in large groups could lead to the realization of analogous macroscopic robotic systems with microscopic complexity. Rotationally induced self-organization has been observed in biological systems and modeled theoretically, but studies of fast, autonomously moving synthetic rotors remain rare. Here, we report switchable, out-of-equilibrium hydrodynamic assembly and phase separation in suspensions of acoustically powered chiral microspinners. Semiquantitative modeling suggests that three-dimensionally (3D) complex spinners interact through viscous and weakly inertial (streaming) flows. The interactions between spinners were studied over a range of densities to construct a phase diagram, which included gaseous dimer pairing at low density, collective rotation and multiphase separation at intermediate densities, and ultimately jamming at high density. The 3D chirality of the spinners leads to self-organization in parallel planes, forming a three-dimensionally hierarchical system that goes beyond the 2D systems that have so far been modeled computationally. Dense mixtures of spinners and passive tracer particles also show active-passive phase separation. These observations are consistent with recent theoretical predictions of the hydrodynamic coupling between rotlets generated by autonomous spinners and provide an exciting experimental window to the study of colloidal active matter and microrobotic systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey M McNeill
- Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
| | - Yun Chang Choi
- Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
| | - Yi-Yu Cai
- Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
| | - Jiacen Guo
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
| | - François Nadal
- Wolfson School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, United Kingdom
| | - Cherie R Kagan
- Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
- Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
| | - Thomas E Mallouk
- Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
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6
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Siebers F, Jayaram A, Blümler P, Speck T. Exploiting compositional disorder in collectives of light-driven circle walkers. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadf5443. [PMID: 37058561 PMCID: PMC10104457 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adf5443] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2022] [Accepted: 03/15/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Emergent behavior in collectives of "robotic" units with limited capabilities that is robust and programmable is a promising route to perform tasks on the micro and nanoscale that are otherwise difficult to realize. However, a comprehensive theoretical understanding of the physical principles, in particular steric interactions in crowded environments, is still largely missing. Here, we study simple light-driven walkers propelled through internal vibrations. We demonstrate that their dynamics is well captured by the model of active Brownian particles, albeit with an angular speed that differs between individual units. Transferring to a numerical model, we show that this polydispersity of angular speeds gives rise to specific collective behavior: self-sorting under confinement and enhancement of translational diffusion. Our results show that, while naively perceived as imperfection, disorder of individual properties can provide another route to realize programmable active matter.
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7
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Savoie W, Tuazon H, Tiwari I, Bhamla MS, Goldman DI. Amorphous entangled active matter. SOFT MATTER 2023; 19:1952-1965. [PMID: 36809295 PMCID: PMC11164134 DOI: 10.1039/d2sm01573k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
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 that arise from the local interactions of individual particles are not well understood. In this study, we examine the emergent properties of amorphous entangled systems in an in silico collection of u-shaped particles ("smarticles") and in living entangled aggregate of worm blobs (L. variegatus). In simulations, we examine how material properties change for a collective composed of smarticles as they undergo different forcing protocols. We compare three methods of controlling entanglement in the collective: external oscillations of the ensemble, sudden shape-changes of all individuals, and sustained internal oscillations of all individuals. We find that large-amplitude changes of the particle's shape using the shape-change procedure produce the largest average number of entanglements, with respect to the aspect ratio (l/w), thus improving the tensile strength of the collective. We demonstrate applications of these simulations by showing how the individual worm activity in a blob can be controlled through the ambient dissolved oxygen in water, leading to complex emergent properties of the living entangled collective, such as solid-like entanglement and tumbling. Our work reveals principles by which future shape-modulating, potentially soft robotic systems may dynamically alter their material properties, advancing our understanding of living entangled materials, while inspiring new classes of synthetic emergent super-materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- William Savoie
- School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30318, USA
| | - Harry Tuazon
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30318, USA.
| | - Ishant Tiwari
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30318, USA.
| | - M Saad Bhamla
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30318, USA.
| | - Daniel I Goldman
- School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30318, USA
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8
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Ben Zion MY, Fersula J, Bredeche N, Dauchot O. Morphological computation and decentralized learning in a swarm of sterically interacting robots. Sci Robot 2023; 8:eabo6140. [PMID: 36812334 DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.abo6140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/24/2023]
Abstract
Whereas naturally occurring swarms thrive when crowded, physical interactions in robotic swarms are either avoided or carefully controlled, thus limiting their operational density. Here, we present a mechanical design rule that allows robots to act in a collision-dominated environment. We introduce Morphobots, a robotic swarm platform developed to implement embodied computation through a morpho-functional design. By engineering a three-dimensional printed exoskeleton, we encode a reorientation response to an external body force (such as gravity) or a surface force (such as a collision). We show that the force orientation response is generic and can augment existing swarm robotic platforms (e.g., Kilobots) as well as custom robots even 10 times larger. At the individual level, the exoskeleton improves motility and stability and also allows encoding of two contrasting dynamical behaviors in response to an external force or a collision (including collision with a wall or a movable obstacle and on a dynamically tilting plane). This force orientation response adds a mechanical layer to the robot's sense-act cycle at the swarm level, leveraging steric interactions for collective phototaxis when crowded. Enabling collisions also promotes information flow, facilitating online distributed learning. Each robot runs an embedded algorithm that ultimately optimizes collective performance. We identify an effective parameter that controls the force orientation response and explore its implications in swarms that transition from dilute to crowded. Experimenting with physical swarms (of up to 64 robots) and simulated swarms (of up to 8192 agents) shows that the effect of morphological computation increases with growing swarm size.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matan Yah Ben Zion
- Gulliver UMR CNRS 7083, ESPCI, PSL Research University, 75005 Paris, France.,Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et de Robotique, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, ISIR, F-75005 Paris, France.,School of Physics and Astronomy and Center for Physics and Chemistry of Living Systems, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Jeremy Fersula
- Gulliver UMR CNRS 7083, ESPCI, PSL Research University, 75005 Paris, France.,Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et de Robotique, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, ISIR, F-75005 Paris, France
| | - Nicolas Bredeche
- Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et de Robotique, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, ISIR, F-75005 Paris, France
| | - Olivier Dauchot
- Gulliver UMR CNRS 7083, ESPCI, PSL Research University, 75005 Paris, France
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9
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Gandikota MC, Cacciuto A. Rectification of confined soft vesicles containing active particles. SOFT MATTER 2023; 19:315-320. [PMID: 36520608 DOI: 10.1039/d2sm01407f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
One of the most promising features of active systems is that they can extract energy from their environment and convert it to mechanical work. Self propelled particles enable rectification when in contact with rigid boundaries. They can rectify their own motion when confined in asymmetric channels and that of microgears. In this paper, we study the shape fluctuations of two dimensional flexible vesicles containing active Brownian particles. We show how these fluctuations not only are capable of easily squeezing a vesicle through narrow openings, but are also responsible for its rectification when placed within asymmetric confining channels (ratchetaxis). We detail the conditions under which this process can be optimized, and sort out the complex interplay between elastic and active forces responsible for the directed motion of the vesicle across these channels.
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Affiliation(s)
- M C Gandikota
- Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, 3000 Broadway, New York, NY, 10027, USA.
| | - A Cacciuto
- Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, 3000 Broadway, New York, NY, 10027, USA.
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10
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Xie K, Gorin B, Cerbus RT, Alvarez L, Rampnoux JM, Kellay H. Activity Induced Rigidity of Liquid Droplets. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2022; 129:138001. [PMID: 36206417 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.129.138001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2021] [Revised: 02/18/2022] [Accepted: 08/25/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Here we show that encapsulating active Janus particles within a drop renders it more resistant to deformation. This drop is deformed under the action of an extensional flow. Such deformation is primarily resisted by the drop interfacial tension. When the particles are active under the action of laser illumination, the deformation decreases signaling an increase in effective tension or Laplace pressure. This increase is attributed to the activity of the particles. Our results using numerous drop sizes, particle number densities, and active velocities show that the obtained increase agrees surprisingly well, over an extended range, with a standard expression for the pressure engendered by an ensemble of active particles, proposed years ago but not tested yet in three dimensions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaili Xie
- Université de Bordeaux, CNRS, LOMA, UMR 5798, F-33405 Talence, France
| | - Benjamin Gorin
- Université de Bordeaux, CNRS, LOMA, UMR 5798, F-33405 Talence, France
| | - Rory T Cerbus
- Université de Bordeaux, CNRS, LOMA, UMR 5798, F-33405 Talence, France
| | - Laura Alvarez
- Université de Bordeaux, CNRS, CRPP, UMR 5031, 33600 Pessac, France
| | | | - Hamid Kellay
- Université de Bordeaux, CNRS, LOMA, UMR 5798, F-33405 Talence, France
- Institut Universitaire de France, 75005 Paris, France
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11
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Abstract
Mechanical activity of an active fluid can be used to control its dynamics at the boundaries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jérémie Palacci
- Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 3400 Klosterneuburg, Austria
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12
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Safara FMR, Melo HPM, Telo da Gama MM, Araújo NAM. Model for active particles confined in a two-state micropattern. SOFT MATTER 2022; 18:5699-5705. [PMID: 35876272 DOI: 10.1039/d2sm00616b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
We propose a model, based on active Brownian particles, for the dynamics of cells confined in a two-state micropattern, composed of two rectangular boxes connected by a bridge, and investigate the transition statistics. A transition between boxes occurs when the active particle crosses the center of the bridge, and the time between subsequent transitions is the dwell time. By assuming that the rotational diffusion time τ is a function of the position, some experimental observations are qualitatively recovered as, for example, the shape of the survival function. τ controls the transition from a ballistic regime at short time scales to a diffusive regime at long time scales, with an effective diffusion coefficient proportional to τ. For small values of τ, the dwell time is determined by the characteristic diffusion timescale which is constant for very low values of τ, when the rotational diffusion is much faster than the translational one and decays with τ for intermediate values of τ. For large values of τ, the interaction with the walls dominates and the particle stays mostly at the corners of the boxes increasing the dwell time. We find that there is an optimal τ for which the dwell time is minimal and its value can be tuned by changing the geometry of the pattern.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francisco M R Safara
- Centro de Física Teórica e Computacional, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal.
| | - Hygor P M Melo
- Centro de Física Teórica e Computacional, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal.
| | - Margarida M Telo da Gama
- Centro de Física Teórica e Computacional, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal.
- Departamento de Física, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Nuno A M Araújo
- Centro de Física Teórica e Computacional, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal.
- Departamento de Física, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
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13
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Patterson GA. Bistability in orbital trajectories of a chiral self-propelled particle interacting with an external field. Phys Rev E 2022; 106:014615. [PMID: 35974547 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.106.014615] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2022] [Accepted: 07/12/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
In this paper, the dynamics of a self-propelled stochastic particle under the influence of an axisymmetric light field is experimentally studied. The particle under consideration has the main characteristic of carrying a light sensor in an eccentric location. For the chosen experimental conditions, the emerging trajectories are orbital, and, more interestingly, they suggest the existence of bistability. A mathematical model incorporating the key experimental components is introduced. By means of numerical simulations and theoretical analysis, it is found that, in addition to the orbiting behavior, the sensor location could produce trapped or diffusive behaviors. Furthermore, the study reveals that stochastic perturbation and the eccentric location of the sensor are responsible for inducing bistability in the orbital trajectories, supporting experimental observations.
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Affiliation(s)
- G A Patterson
- Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires, CONICET, Lavardén 315, 1437 Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
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14
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Li W, Li L, Shi Q, Yang M, Zheng N. Chiral separation of rotating robots through obstacle arrays. POWDER TECHNOL 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.powtec.2022.117671] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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15
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Gardi G, Ceron S, Wang W, Petersen K, Sitti M. Microrobot collectives with reconfigurable morphologies, behaviors, and functions. Nat Commun 2022; 13:2239. [PMID: 35473915 PMCID: PMC9043221 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29882-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2021] [Accepted: 03/31/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Mobile microrobots, which can navigate, sense, and interact with their environment, could potentially revolutionize biomedicine and environmental remediation. Many self-organizing microrobotic collectives have been developed to overcome inherent limits in actuation, sensing, and manipulation of individual microrobots; however, reconfigurable collectives with robust transitions between behaviors are rare. Such systems that perform multiple functions are advantageous to operate in complex environments. Here, we present a versatile microrobotic collective system capable of on-demand reconfiguration to adapt to and utilize their environments to perform various functions at the air-water interface. Our system exhibits diverse modes ranging from isotropic to anisotrpic behaviors and transitions between a globally driven and a novel self-propelling behavior. We show the transition between different modes in experiments and simulations, and demonstrate various functions, using the reconfigurability of our system to navigate, explore, and interact with the environment. Such versatile microrobot collectives with globally driven and self-propelled behaviors have great potential in future medical and environmental applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gaurav Gardi
- Physical Intelligence Department, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany
- Department of Physics, University of Stuttgart, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Steven Ceron
- Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA
| | - Wendong Wang
- University of Michigan-Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China.
| | - Kirstin Petersen
- Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA.
| | - Metin Sitti
- Physical Intelligence Department, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany.
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland.
- School of Medicine and College of Engineering, Koç University, 34450, Istanbul, Turkey.
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16
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Akter M, Keya JJ, Kayano K, Kabir AMR, Inoue D, Hess H, Sada K, Kuzuya A, Asanuma H, Kakugo A. Cooperative cargo transportation by a swarm of molecular machines. Sci Robot 2022; 7:eabm0677. [PMID: 35442703 DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.abm0677] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Cooperation is a strategy that has been adopted by groups of organisms to execute complex tasks more efficiently than single entities. Cooperation increases the robustness and flexibility of the working groups and permits sharing of the workload among individuals. However, the utilization of this strategy in artificial systems at the molecular level, which could enable substantial advances in microrobotics and nanotechnology, remains highly challenging. Here, we demonstrate molecular transportation through the cooperative action of a large number of artificial molecular machines, photoresponsive DNA-conjugated microtubules driven by kinesin motor proteins. Mechanical communication via conjugated photoresponsive DNA enables these microtubules to organize into groups upon photoirradiation. The groups of transporters load and transport cargo, and cargo unloading is achieved by dissociating the groups into single microtubules. The group formation permits the loading and transport of cargoes with larger sizes and in larger numbers over long distances compared with single transporters. We also demonstrate that cargo can be collected at user-determined locations defined by ultraviolet light exposure. This work demonstrates cooperative task performance by molecular machines, which will help to construct molecular robots with advanced functionalities in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Akter
- Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0810, Japan
| | - J J Keya
- Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0810, Japan
| | - K Kayano
- Graduate School of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0810, Japan
| | - A M R Kabir
- Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0810, Japan
| | - D Inoue
- Faculty of Design, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 815-8540, Japan
| | - H Hess
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
| | - K Sada
- Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0810, Japan.,Graduate School of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0810, Japan
| | - A Kuzuya
- Department of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Kansai University, Osaka 564-8680, Japan
| | - H Asanuma
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan
| | - A Kakugo
- Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0810, Japan.,Graduate School of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0810, Japan
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17
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Echeverría-Huarte I, Nicolas A, Hidalgo RC, Garcimartín A, Zuriguel I. Spontaneous emergence of counterclockwise vortex motion in assemblies of pedestrians roaming within an enclosure. Sci Rep 2022; 12:2647. [PMID: 35173216 PMCID: PMC8850453 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-06493-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2021] [Accepted: 01/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The emergence of coherent vortices has been observed in a wide variety of many-body systems such as animal flocks, bacteria, colloids, vibrated granular materials or human crowds. Here, we experimentally demonstrate that pedestrians roaming within an enclosure also form vortex-like patterns which, intriguingly, only rotate counterclockwise. By implementing simple numerical simulations, we evidence that the development of swirls in many-particle systems can be described as a phase transition in which both the density of agents and their dissipative interactions with the boundaries play a determinant role. Also, for the specific case of pedestrians, we show that the preference of right-handed people (the majority in our experiments) to turn leftwards when facing a wall is the symmetry breaking mechanism needed to trigger the global counterclockwise rotation observed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iñaki Echeverría-Huarte
- Departamento de Física y Matemática Aplicada, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Navarra, 31080, Pamplona, Spain.
| | - Alexandre Nicolas
- Institut Lumière Matière, CNRS & Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 & Université de Lyon, 69622, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Raúl Cruz Hidalgo
- Departamento de Física y Matemática Aplicada, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Navarra, 31080, Pamplona, Spain
| | - Angel Garcimartín
- Departamento de Física y Matemática Aplicada, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Navarra, 31080, Pamplona, Spain
| | - Iker Zuriguel
- Departamento de Física y Matemática Aplicada, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Navarra, 31080, Pamplona, Spain
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18
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Bredeche N, Fontbonne N. Social learning in swarm robotics. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20200309. [PMID: 34894730 PMCID: PMC8666954 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2021] [Accepted: 11/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
In this paper, we present an implementation of social learning for swarm robotics. We consider social learning as a distributed online reinforcement learning method applied to a collective of robots where sensing, acting and coordination are performed on a local basis. While some issues are specific to artificial systems, such as the general objective of learning efficient (and ideally, optimal) behavioural strategies to fulfill a task defined by a supervisor, some other issues are shared with social learning in natural systems. We discuss some of these issues, paving the way towards cumulative cultural evolution in robot swarms, which could enable complex social organization necessary to achieve challenging robotic tasks. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'The emergence of collective knowledge and cumulative culture in animals, humans and machines'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Bredeche
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et de Robotique, ISIR, F-75005 Paris, France
| | - Nicolas Fontbonne
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et de Robotique, ISIR, F-75005 Paris, France
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19
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Saper G, Tsitkov S, Katira P, Hess H. Robotic end-to-end fusion of microtubules powered by kinesin. Sci Robot 2021; 6:eabj7200. [PMID: 34731025 DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.abj7200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The active assembly of molecules by nanorobots has advanced greatly since “molecular manufacturing”—that is, the use of nanoscale tools to build molecular structures—was proposed. In contrast to a catalyst, which accelerates a reaction by smoothing the potential energy surface along the reaction coordinate, molecular machines expend energy to accelerate a reaction relative to the baseline provided by thermal motion and forces. Here, we design a nanorobotics system to accelerate end-to-end microtubule assembly by using kinesin motors and a circular confining chamber. We show that the mechanical interaction of kinesin-propelled microtubules gliding on a surface with the walls of the confining chamber results in a nonequilibrium distribution of microtubules, which increases the number of end-to-end microtubule fusion events 20-fold compared with microtubules gliding on a plane. In contrast to earlier nanorobots, where a nonequilibrium distribution was built into the initial state and drove the process, our nanorobotic system creates and actively maintains the building blocks in the concentrated state responsible for accelerated assembly through the adenosine triphosphate–fueled generation of force by kinesin-1 motor proteins. This approach can be used in the future to develop biohybrid or bioinspired nanorobots that use molecular machines to access nonequilibrium states and accelerate nanoscale assembly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gadiel Saper
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Stanislav Tsitkov
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Parag Katira
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Henry Hess
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
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