Collective actuation of an elastic network of “mini robots”

The physics of collective movements has been a field that has been extensively studied for regarding thirty years. Until now, scientists have concentrated on the study of “fluid” movements, such as those of flocks of birds or schools of fish. Using an ingenious experimental device, researchers from the Gulliver laboratory (ESPCI Paris PSL / CNRS) have revealed the possibility of collective movements in elastic solid structures. Their work sheds light on the mechanism and parameters that control these so-called “collective actuation” movements. This work is published in the journal Nature Physics.