Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Xingzhou Du, Jiangfan Yu, Dongdong Jin, Philip Wai Yan Chiu, Li Zhang
Summary: Independent pattern formation of different microrobotic swarms under the same environment is a challenging task. A new method is proposed in this work, utilizing the different behavior of nickel nanorod swarm and nanoparticle swarm to achieve independent pattern formation of diverse microrobotic swarms under the same input.
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Andrea Cavagna, Luca Di Carlo, Irene Giardina, Tomas S. Grigera, Stefania Melillo, Leonardo Parisi, Giulia Pisegna, Mattia Scandolo
Summary: By using the renormalization group, the dynamical critical exponent of natural swarms of insects is calculated, and a new fixed point is discovered. The critical exponent at the new fixed point is consistent with both experiments and numerical simulations, indicating the power of the renormalization group in describing collective behavior.
Article
Physics, Fluids & Plasmas
Shlomit Peled, Shawn D. Ryan, Sebastian Heidenreich, Markus Baer, Gil Ariel, Avraham Be'er
Summary: Heterogeneous systems of active matter exhibit complex emergent dynamical patterns. Mixed swarms of cells with different aspect ratios were studied experimentally and in simulations, revealing that long cells act as nucleation sites for rapidly moving short cells, enhancing swarming speeds. However, high fractions of long cells can create bottlenecks for efficient swarming.
Article
Mechanics
Jie Qi, Zheng Liang Yu, Guo Peng Liao, Zheng Yuan Luo, Bo Feng Bai
Summary: Nanoparticle surfactants formed by interactions between nanoparticles and complementary polymers have been proposed as excellent stabilizers for liquid droplets in substance encapsulation and delivery applications. This study found that adding carboxylated nanoparticles to the dispersed phase and amino-terminated polymers to the continuous phases significantly reduces droplet size while increasing production rate. The combined effect of nanoparticles and polymers is greater than the sum of their individual effects due to the reduction of oil-water interfacial tension by nanoparticle surfactants.
Article
Physics, Fluids & Plasmas
Manisha L. Patel, Nicholas T. Ouellette
Summary: By using external illumination cues, the behavior of laboratory swarms of the nonbiting midge Chironomus riparius during formation and dissolution processes was studied. It was found that swarm formation is slower than dissolution, and the emergent mean radial acceleration pointing toward the center of the swarm is the swarm property that appears and disappears most rapidly. This central effective force may be used as an indicator to distinguish between swarming and non-swarming midges.
Article
Automation & Control Systems
Maolong Lv, Bart De Schutter, Simone Baldi
Summary: This article proposes an output-feedback control protocol for hypersonic flight vehicle swarms considering dynamic event-triggered communication. The peculiarities of the proposed method consist of: 1) converging the outputs of follower vehicles inside the convex hull spanned by leader vehicles to maintain a geometric space configuration during scheduled maneuvers; 2) establishing a simple nonrecursive output-feedback design without intermediate control laws or full-state information; 3) incorporating an error-dependent monotonically decreasing exponential term into the dynamic event-triggered threshold to reduce communication bandwidth while maintaining desired track performance and excluding Zeno behavior. Comparative simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL INFORMATICS
(2023)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Orestes Tumbarell Aranda, Andre L. A. Penna, Fernando A. Oliveira
Summary: This work establishes a deterministic equation for a generalized nonlocal population dynamics that relies on two length parameters (alpha, beta) and associates these parameters with reproduction, competition, and pattern formation in bacterial dynamics. The proposed stochastic cellular automaton is formulated based on the states defined by each set of parameters, aiming to describe the evolutionary dynamics of a bacterial colony. The evolution of the colony towards a maximum population allowed in a given niche determines the final pattern, selecting for bacteria more capable of sharing space.
PHYSICA A-STATISTICAL MECHANICS AND ITS APPLICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Aerospace
Kai Matsuka, Aaron O. Feldman, Elena S. Lupu, Soon-Jo Chung, Fred Y. Hadaegh
Summary: The paper introduces a decentralized, scalable algorithm for spacecraft swarms, which effectively addresses the challenges posed by increasing number of spacecraft and changing communication and sensing networks. The algorithm employs a local estimation approach and integrates distributed consensus algorithm to provide a reliable solution for navigation, control, and motion planning of spacecraft swarms.
ADVANCES IN SPACE RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Robotics
Paulo Rezeck, Luiz Chaimowicz
Summary: This paper presents a novel stochastic approach that allows a swarm of self-organized robots to create emergent patterns using local information. Simulated experiments and experiments with physical robots demonstrate the versatility and feasibility of this method.
IEEE ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Idan Hefetz, Ofir Israeli, Gal Bilinsky, Inbar Plaschkes, Einat Hazkani-Covo, Zvi Hayouka, Adam Lampert, Yael Helman
Summary: Microbial adaptation to changing environmental conditions is often influenced by hypermutable sequences. In this study, a hypermutable hotspot within a flagellar gene of Paenibacillus glucanolyticus was found to generate non-swarming mutants with increased stress resistance. These mutants could survive and spread within the colony, leading to a higher population at the edge. The hypermutable sequence also allowed the non-swarming mutants to revert back to wild-type cells, ensuring the survival of the colony.
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Peter Travis Jardine, Sidney N. Givigi
Summary: This paper introduces a bimodal control strategy for transitioning between different flocking and dynamic structures. The strategy is designed for applications where agents need to pursue and close in on a target before performing complex tasks. It defines a new method called dynamic enspherement, which combines consensus-based flocking with target pursuit and capturing. The proposed approach is validated through simulations on particles with double-integrator dynamics.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jonghoek Kim
Summary: This article presents a distributed 3D algorithm that coordinates a swarm of autonomous robots to self-aggregate into an arbitrary shape based on local interactions. The leader robot, with superior communication ability, can localize itself and send signals to other robots inside the shape. The proposed control method ensures reliable accuracy and maintains network connection during maneuvering.
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL
(2022)
Article
Robotics
Luigi Feola, Vito Trianni
Summary: This study improves task execution by using adaptive behavioral strategies for decentralized robotic swarms. A probabilistic approach is used to enable opportunistic team formation for minimalist agents unable to communicate and plan ahead. Experiments with simulated and real swarms demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, with potential applications in micro/nano-robotics.
IEEE ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
George Courcoubetis, Manasi S. Gangan, Sean Lim, Xiaokan Guo, Stephan Haas, James Q. Boedicker
Summary: This study examines the formation and dynamics of bacterial aggregates in soft agar and their collective movement. The movement of the aggregates is driven by the change in motility of individual cells and the regulation of cell density. The results show that bacteria swim towards regions with high concentrations of attractant molecules and stop swimming in crowded areas, leading to the migration and merging of the aggregates. This work identifies a new mechanism for collective bacterial motility and control.
PLOS COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Mathematics, Interdisciplinary Applications
J. Menezes, B. Moura
Summary: Apparent competition is an indirect interaction between species that share natural resources without aggression but negatively affect each other if there is a common enemy. In a model where two prey species share a common predator, the predator plays a central role in pattern formation and coarsening dynamics. The effects of predator mortality on species persistence show a crossover between curvature-driven scaling and coexistence scenarios. Low predator mortality leads to spatial domains mainly inhabited by one prey species, while high predator mortality reduces the effects of apparent competition and allows for a larger fraction of lattice to be shared by both prey species.
CHAOS SOLITONS & FRACTALS
(2022)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Sai Santosh Sasank Peri, Manoj Kumar Sabnani, Muhammad Usman Raza, Elizabeth L. Urquhart, Soroush Ghaffari, Jung Soo Lee, Min Jun Kim, Jon Weidanz, George Alexandrakis
Summary: A plasmonic nanopore sensor was developed to detect bimodal optical and electrical molecular signatures for characterizing low affinity ligand-receptor interactions. The sensor was able to differentiate between specific and non-specific interactions, detect complex binding at concentrations much lower than the free solution equilibrium binding constant, and estimate the fast dissociation rate of specific ligand-receptor systems. This suggests the potential utility of the sensor as a screening tool in cancer immunotherapy.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Jugal Saharia, Y. M. Nuwan D. Y. Bandara, Buddini Karawdeniya, George Alexandrakis, Min Jun Kim
Summary: By investigating the 1/f noise characteristics of CT-CDB nanopores, it was found that the surface contribution plays a dominant role in comparison to SSNs. Experimental results showed that the DNA capture rate was highest around pH 8, with LiCl outperforming other electrolytes.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Jung Soo Lee, Juan Pablo Oviedo, Yapa Mudiyanselage Nuwan Dhananjaya Yapa Bandara, Xin Peng, Longsheng Xia, Qingxiao Wang, Kevin Garcia, Jinguo Wang, Min Jun Kim, Moon Jae Kim
Summary: This study successfully achieved slow translocation speed and high sensitivity by fabricating an ultra-thin titanium dioxide coated hexagonal boron nitride nanopore and increasing the spatial and temporal resolutions with an ionic liquid interface. This allowed for continuous detection of nucleobases using a 2D SSN device.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Jugal Saharia, Y. M. Nuwan D. Y. Bandara, Min Jun Kim
Summary: Electrolyte chemistry plays a crucial role in the transport properties of analytes through nanopores. In this study, the translocation properties of human serum transferrin (hSTf) protein were investigated under different salt concentrations with positive or negative chemical gradients. The experiments showed that translocations occurred in all configurations under positive gradient conditions, while no translocations were observed under negative gradient conditions.
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Aminul Islam Khan, Min Jun Kim, Prashanta Dutta
Summary: This study investigates the classification of AAV vectors using deep learning methods. The researchers used fine-tuning based transfer learning to improve classification accuracy, achieving an average accuracy of 90-99% in three experiments. The results show that the accuracy depends on the applied electric field and the time frame used for data segmentation. The study also found that fine-tuning based transfer learning outperforms feature extraction-based classification.
JOURNAL OF SIGNAL PROCESSING SYSTEMS FOR SIGNAL IMAGE AND VIDEO TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Robotics
Neelanga Thelasingha, A. Agung Julius, Min Jun Kim
Summary: This paper introduces a method to reduce spatial variance of microbot systems through ensemble control, using motion primitives to efficiently discretize input space and optimize control trajectories, enabling faster and more effective space exploration.
INTELLIGENT SERVICE ROBOTICS
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Multidisciplinary
Anuruddha Bhattacharjee, Mehdi Jabbarzadeh, Gokhan Kararsiz, Henry C. Fu, Min Jun Kim
Summary: This paper presents the design and exploration of a bacteria-inspired soft robot that can move in highly viscous Newtonian fluids. The robot was fabricated as a tapered, hollow rod-like structure with embedded cylindrical micro-magnets for actuation. The experiments showed that the robot can perform both rolling and swimming propulsion in different locations relative to a boundary. Numerical simulations were conducted to investigate the swimming propulsion and its dependence on design parameters and fluid viscosity. The results suggest that simple geometrical asymmetry enables the robot to achieve propulsion in low Reynolds number regime.
BIOINSPIRATION & BIOMIMETICS
(2022)
Article
Robotics
Anuruddha Bhattacharjee, Yitong Lu, Aaron T. Becker, MinJun Kim
Summary: The study introduces a design of reconfigurable modular robots with high reconfigurability and controllability for mesoscale manufacturing applications. The platform can create programmable patterns through wireless control and assembly-disassembly techniques. Experimental results demonstrate robust and reproducible behavior, showing promise for mesoscale manufacturing.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ROBOTICS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Gokhan Kararsiz, Yasin Cagatay Duygu, Louis William Rogowski, Anuruddha Bhattacharjee, Min Jun Kim
Summary: This paper demonstrates the manipulation of snowman-shaped soft microrobots under a uniform rotating magnetic field, showing their directional controllability. Furthermore, it compares the velocity responses of microsnowmen and single alginate microrobots under the magnetic field manipulation.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Matthew O'Donohue, Jugal Saharia, Nuwan Bandara, Georgios Alexandrakis, Min Jun Kim
Summary: A silicon nitride-based nanopore was used to characterize the human serum transferrin receptor protein (TfR). The study showed that the presence of dimeric forms of TfR decreased exponentially with increasing applied electric field, while the unfolding behaviors of monomeric TfR were positively dependent on the applied voltage. Comparison with the ligand protein hSTf demonstrated the ability to distinguish between these two protein populations using a solid-state nanopore (SSN). The excluded volumes of TfR were experimentally determined and found to be within error of their theoretical values.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jugal Saharia, Yapa Mudiyanselage Nuwan Dhananjaya Yapa Bandara, Buddini Iroshika Karawdeniya, Jason Rodger Dwyer, Min Jun Kim
Summary: Stability, long lifetime, resilience against clogging, low noise, and low cost are the key features of solid-state nanopore technology. This study presents a fabrication protocol that allows for obtaining more than 1 million events from a single solid-state nanopore. Additionally, approximately 8.1 million events were reported in this work, encompassing both DNA and protein analytes. The collected data represents a significant advancement in solid-state pore performance and has potential applications in machine learning and other fields.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Gokhan Kararsiz, Yasin Cagatay Duygu, Zhengguang Wang, Louis William Rogowski, Sung Jea Park, Min Jun Kim
Summary: This study investigates the motion characteristics of soft alginate microrobots in complex fluidic environments utilizing wireless magnetic fields for actuation. The aim is to explore the diverse motion modes that arise due to shear forces in viscoelastic fluids by employing snowman-shaped microrobots. Microrobots are fabricated via an extrusion-based microcentrifugal droplet method, successfully demonstrating the feasibility of both wiggling and tumbling motions. Through velocity analysis, valuable insights into the relationship between applied magnetic fields and motion characteristics are obtained, facilitating a more realistic understanding of surface locomotion for targeted drug delivery purposes while accounting for swarm dynamics and non-uniform behavior.
Article
Robotics
Yitong Lu, Anuruddha Bhattacharjee, Conlan C. Taylor, Julien Leclerc, Jason M. O'Kane, MinJun Kim, Aaron T. Becker
Summary: Reconfigurable modular robots can dynamically assemble/disassemble using magnetic fields. In this study, magnetic modular cubes with embedded permanent magnets are used to self-assemble into desired 2D polyomino shapes. A closed-loop control method is presented, using computer vision feedback and re-planning, which improves the success rate of forming user-specified polyominoes. The validity of the approach is demonstrated with different cube sizes.
IEEE ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION LETTERS
(2023)
Proceedings Paper
Engineering, Biomedical
Scott Renkes, Minjun Kim, George Alexandrakis
Summary: This study demonstrates the feasibility of using AC modulation of command voltage applied across a Self-induced Back Action Actuated Nanopore Electrophoresis (SANE) sensor to enhance the characterization of nanoparticles (NPs) and single molecules. By analyzing frequency response and electrical behavior, this method provides valuable insights into the charge and dielectric constant of analytes. The results show that different types of NPs exhibit distinctly different electrical responses.
PLASMONICS IN BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE XIX
(2022)
Proceedings Paper
Engineering, Biomedical
Homayoun Asadzadeh, Scott Renkes, MinJun Kim, George Alexandrakis
Summary: This work presents Multiphysics COMSOL simulations to analyze the contributions of optical and electrical forces acting on a 20 nm silica nanoparticle trapped by a plasmonic nanopore sensor. The simulations aim to understand the underlying forces and their impact on the optical-electric measurements.
PLASMONICS IN BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE XIX
(2022)
