Rotating robots move collectively and self-organize

Christian Scholz (), Michael Engel and Thorsten Pöschel
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Christian Scholz: Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Michael Engel: Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Thorsten Pöschel: Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Biological organisms and artificial active particles self-organize into swarms and patterns. Open questions concern the design of emergent phenomena by choosing appropriate forms of activity and particle interactions. A particularly simple and versatile system are 3D-printed robots on a vibrating table that can perform self-propelled and self-spinning motion. Here we study a mixture of minimalistic clockwise and counter-clockwise rotating robots, called rotors. Our experiments show that rotors move collectively and exhibit super-diffusive interfacial motion and phase separate via spinodal decomposition. On long time scales, confinement favors symmetric demixing patterns. By mapping rotor motion on a Langevin equation with a constant driving torque and by comparison with computer simulations, we demonstrate that our macroscopic system is a form of active soft matter.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-03154-7

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