Issue 8, 2017

Device and programming abstractions for spatiotemporal control of active micro-particle swarms

Abstract

We present a hardware setup and a set of executable commands for spatiotemporal programming and interactive control of a swarm of self-propelled microscopic agents inside a microfluidic chip. In particular, local and global spatiotemporal light stimuli are used to direct the motion of ensembles of Euglena gracilis, a unicellular phototactic organism. We develop three levels of programming abstractions (stimulus space, swarm space, and system space) to create a scripting language for directing swarms. We then implement a multi-level proof-of-concept biotic game using these commands to demonstrate their utility. These device and programming concepts will enhance our capabilities for manipulating natural and synthetic swarms, with future applications for on-chip processing, diagnostics, education, and research on collective behaviors.

Graphical abstract: Device and programming abstractions for spatiotemporal control of active micro-particle swarms

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
07 Feb 2017
Accepted
12 Mar 2017
First published
16 Mar 2017
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Lab Chip, 2017,17, 1442-1451

Device and programming abstractions for spatiotemporal control of active micro-particle swarms

A. T. Lam, K. G. Samuel-Gama, J. Griffin, M. Loeun, L. C. Gerber, Z. Hossain, N. J. Cira, S. A. Lee and I. H. Riedel-Kruse, Lab Chip, 2017, 17, 1442 DOI: 10.1039/C7LC00131B

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party commercial publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements