A review of swarmalators and their potential in bio-inspired computing

Kevin O'Keeffe; Christian Bettstetter

doi:10.1117/12.2518682

13 May 2019 A review of swarmalators and their potential in bio-inspired computing

Kevin O'Keeffe, Christian Bettstetter

Proceedings Volume 10982, Micro- and Nanotechnology Sensors, Systems, and Applications XI; 109822E (2019) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2518682
Event: SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing, 2019, Baltimore, MD, United States

Abstract

From fireflies to heart cells, many systems in Nature show the remarkable ability to spontaneously fall into synchrony. By imitating Nature's success at self-synchronizing, scientists have designed cost-effective methods to achieve synchrony in the lab, with applications ranging from wireless sensor networks to radio transmission. A similar story has occurred in the study of swarms, where inspiration from the behavior flocks of birds and schools of fish has led to low-footprint algorithms for multi-robot systems. Here, we continue this `bio-inspired' tradition, by speculating on the technological benefit of fusing swarming with synchronization. The subject of recent theoretical work, minimal models of so-called `swarmalator' systems exhibit rich spatiotemporal patterns, hinting at utility in `bottom-up' robotic swarms. We review the theoretical work on swarmalators, identify possible realizations in Nature, and discuss their potential applications in technology.

Citation Download Citation

Kevin O'Keeffe and Christian Bettstetter "A review of swarmalators and their potential in bio-inspired computing", Proc. SPIE 10982, Micro- and Nanotechnology Sensors, Systems, and Applications XI, 109822E (13 May 2019); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2518682

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