Title: Patterns as a way towards adaptability

Speaker: Dr. S Ganga Prasath

Affiliation: School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University

Abstract: The soft matter view to understand collective behavior in natural systems has led to a surge in models to study pattern formation. The functional aspects of these patterns are often understudied and fall under the realm of evolution. In the first part of the talk we will discuss ways by which patterns in natural systems can inspire robotic systems for a particular function and examine a particular instance of collective task execution in ants. We will then look at a possible generalized approach to design robots with robust properties that leverages the classical pattern formation paradigm.