Wasps, Termites, and Waspmites: Distinguishing Competence from Performance in Collective Construction

Bullock, Seth; Ladley, Dan; Kerby, Michael

doi:10.1162/artl_a_00065

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 41 publications

(70 reference statements)

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“…For example, making bird flocks virtually heterogeneous by diversifying their cohesion and alignment parameters, as if mixing different species ("swarm chemistry" [8]), can result in surprisingly complex and robust morphologies. Similarly, giving virtual wasps a pheromone that they can lay down and follow like termites ("waspmites" [9]) enhances their computation abilities, and transforms their usually repetitive nests into more elaborate constructions. In modern biotechnological endeavors such as synthetic biology [10,11], real-world genomic information can also be tampered with in specific ways to steer the emergent collective behavior of cellular populations toward new outcomes, whether for biomedical applications (such as organ growth) or "natural computing" [12] (such as organic processors).…”

Section: Toward Programmable Self-organizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of morphogenetic engineering

2013

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Generally, phenomena of spontaneous pattern formation are random and repetitive, whereas elaborate devices are the deterministic product of human design. Yet, biological organisms and collective insect constructions are exceptional examples of complex systems that are both architectured and self-organized. Can we understand their precise self-formation capabilities and integrate them with technological planning? Can physical systems be endowed with information, or informational systems be embedded in physics, to create autonomous morphologies and functions? To answer these questions, we have launched in 2009, and developed through a series of workshops and a collective book, a new field of research called Morphogenetic Engineering. It is the first initiative of its kind to rally and promote models and implementations of complex self-architecturing systems. Particular emphasis is set on the programmability and computational abilities of self-organization, properties that are often underappreciated in complex systems science-while, conversely, the benefits of self-organization are often underappreciated in engineering methodologies 1 .

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Section: Toward Programmable Self-organizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of morphogenetic engineering

2013

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“…For example, making bird flocks virtually heterogeneous by diversifying their cohesion and alignment parameters, as if mixing different species ("swarm chemistry" [41]), can result in surprisingly complex and robust morphologies. Similarly, giving virtual wasps a pheromone that they can lay down and follow like termites ("waspmites" [10]) enhances their computation abilities, and transforms their usually repetitive nests into more elaborate constructions. In modern biotechnological endeavors such as synthetic biology [19,28], real-world genomic information can also be tampered with in specific ways to steer the emergent collective behavior of cellular populations toward new outcomes, whether for biomedical applications (such as organ growth) or "natural computing" [44] (such as organic processors).…”

Section: Toward Programmable Self-organizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphogenetic Engineering: Reconciling Self-Organization and Architecture

Doursat

Sayama

Michel

2012

Understanding Complex Systems

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Generally, phenomena of spontaneous pattern formation are random and repetitive, whereas elaborate devices are the deterministic product of human design. Yet, biological organisms and collective insect constructions are exceptional examples of complex systems that are both architectured and self-organized. Can we understand their precise self-formation capabilities and integrate them with technological planning? Can physical systems be endowed with information, or informational systems be embedded in physics, to create autonomous morphologies and functions? This book is the first initiative of its kind toward establishing a new field of research, Morphogenetic Engineering, to explore the modeling and implementation of "self-architecturing" systems. Particular emphasis is set on the programmability and computational abilities of self-organization, properties that are often underappreciated in complex systems science-while, conversely, the benefits of selforganization are often underappreciated in engineering methodologies.

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“…For example, papers wasps and African termites and their construction methods have been modeled (Karsai, 1999;Bonabeau, 1998;Theraulaz and Bonabeau, 1995a;Downing and Jeanne, 1988). This construction process has inspired the development of a number of computational techniques (Petersen et al, 2011;Feltell et al, 2005;Bullock et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A novel resource sharing algorithm based on distributed construction for radiant enclosure problems

Bryden

2017

Advances in Engineering Software

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This paper demonstrates a novel approach to solving inverse radiant enclosure problems based on distributed construction. Specifically, the problem of determining the temperature distribution needed on the heater surfaces to achieve a desired design surface temperature profile is recast as a distributed construction problem in which a shared resource, temperature, is distributed by computational agents moving blocks. The sharing of blocks between agents enables them to achieve their desired local state, which in turn achieves the desired global state. Each agent uses the current state of their local environment and a simple set of rules to determine when to exchange blocks, each block representing a discrete unit of temperature change. This algorithm is demonstrated using the established two-dimensional inverse radiation enclosure problem. The temperature profile on the heater surfaces is adjusted to achieve a desired temperature profile on the design surfaces. The resource sharing algorithm was able to determine the needed temperatures on the heater surfaces to obtain the desired temperature distribution on the design surfaces in the nine cases examined.

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Wasps, Termites, and Waspmites: Distinguishing Competence from Performance in Collective Construction

Cited by 9 publications

References 41 publications

A review of morphogenetic engineering

A review of morphogenetic engineering

Morphogenetic Engineering: Reconciling Self-Organization and Architecture

A novel resource sharing algorithm based on distributed construction for radiant enclosure problems

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