Ant inspired rules for self-assembly in swarm robotics and complex systems

This Project aims to investigate how ants use self-assembly to build bridges and chains, joining their bodies using simple rules at the individual-level to build complex structures at the group-level. The long-standing conceptual gap between these two organisational levels will be addressed by a multidisciplinary team using innovative animal behaviour experiments, computer modelling and embodied testing of theory in a robot swarm. Expected outcomes are new models for understanding self-assembly in complex systems, and new control algorithms for robot swarms. This Project should provide significant benefits such as programming to allow robot swarms to autonomously self-assemble useful structures that enhance their operational capabilities.