Army Ants: Self-Assembly and Robot Inspiration

This lecture explores the collective intelligence of army ants, focusing on their self-assembly and reconfiguration abilities, which have inspired the design of robots capable of climbing over each other to form amorphous compliant structures. The study delves into the self-assembly rules derived from army ant bridges, comparing observations from biology with robotic applications. The presentation also covers related work in self-assembly by robots and the real-time adaptation of Eciton bridges. Additionally, it discusses the phase space for self-assembly, highlighting the impact of traffic and terrain on the formation of stable bridges. The lecture concludes by presenting future possibilities in studying various kinds of bridges inspired by ants and the ongoing research involving robots and ants.