In this paper we present the design and the control of a swarm of bimodal particles that switch their geometric shape between two modes. The designed particle has the shape of a dodecahedron and is 3D printed using layers of thermoplastic polyurethane and polylactic acid materials. Using the design parameters the particles are such that they react to an external stimuli of temperature to induce the switching between the two modes: open and closed. The motion model of the swarm was identified to be that of a Brownian particle for the open mode and the noisy unicycle for the closed mode corresponding to different parameters for each mode. To effectively model the noise parameters affecting the motion of the particles we used experimental validation. Using the experimental validation we aimed to determine switching control of the swarm based on the Motility-Induced Phase Separation (MIPS) index that quantifies the aggregation of the swarm. To characterize the switching of the particles we conducted a simulation in MATLAB using the noise parameters identified and determined aggregation of the swarms in both modes using the MIPS index. Our simulations demonstrate that using the noise parameters identified, desired swarm aggregation can be achieved with simple robots that are capable of changing their geometric shape. We draw attention to how simple hardware design of a single agent can achieve aggregations enabling sensing-related tasks to be completed.

错误:搜索内容不能为空,请输入英文关键词
错误:关键词超出字数限制,请精简
高级检索

Design and Density Control of a Swarm of Bimodal Particles

  • Justine Shaw,
  • Gennaro Notomista

摘要

In this paper we present the design and the control of a swarm of bimodal particles that switch their geometric shape between two modes. The designed particle has the shape of a dodecahedron and is 3D printed using layers of thermoplastic polyurethane and polylactic acid materials. Using the design parameters the particles are such that they react to an external stimuli of temperature to induce the switching between the two modes: open and closed. The motion model of the swarm was identified to be that of a Brownian particle for the open mode and the noisy unicycle for the closed mode corresponding to different parameters for each mode. To effectively model the noise parameters affecting the motion of the particles we used experimental validation. Using the experimental validation we aimed to determine switching control of the swarm based on the Motility-Induced Phase Separation (MIPS) index that quantifies the aggregation of the swarm. To characterize the switching of the particles we conducted a simulation in MATLAB using the noise parameters identified and determined aggregation of the swarms in both modes using the MIPS index. Our simulations demonstrate that using the noise parameters identified, desired swarm aggregation can be achieved with simple robots that are capable of changing their geometric shape. We draw attention to how simple hardware design of a single agent can achieve aggregations enabling sensing-related tasks to be completed.