Meeting Abstract

P2.27  Wednesday, Jan. 5  Collective transport by ants as a model for robot teams PRATT, S. C.*; BERMAN, S.; KUMAR, V.; LINDSEY, Q.; SAKAR, M. S.; Arizona State University; Harvard University; University of Pennsylvania; University of Pennsylvania; University of Pennsylvania stephen.pratt@asu.edu

Efficient cooperative transport poses a major challenge for collective robotics. Group retrieval of food by certain ant species offers a promising source of bioinspired solutions. When scouts of the desert ant Aphaenogaster cockerelli find an item too large for a single ant, they quickly organize a small team that lifts and carries it directly to their nest, thus evading more aggressive competitors. This impressive ability is not seen in most ant species, which instead exploit large items in place, cut them into small pieces, or mount much clumsier retrieval efforts. Our goal is to describe in detail the individual actions and communication pathways that make A. cockerelli’s retrieval so efficient. To measure the forces exerted by each ant, we have devised artificial loads ringed with sensors and induced teams of ants to retrieve them. From video records of retrieval we can infer each ant’s contribution as the team gathers together, begins to move the load, directs it toward the nest, and guides it around obstacles. This data will show how the ants divide labor among tasks such as propulsion and stabilization of the load, and how each ant’s role can change in the course of transport. Of particular interest is whether the ants may use the load itself as a means of coordination, via the forces each ant experiences due to the actions of others. A fuller understanding of this behavior will shed light on collective retrieval, and also inspire algorithms for robotic control.