2020 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Optimization of molecular robot swarms for the emergence of collective behaviors
| Project/Area Number |
19KK0261
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| Research Institution | Ochanomizu University |
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Principal Investigator |
オベル加藤 ナタナエル お茶の水女子大学, 基幹研究院, 助教 (10749659)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
川又 生吹 東北大学, 工学研究科, 助教 (30733977)
佐藤 佑介 東北大学, 工学研究科, 助教 (60830560)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2019-10-07 – 2024-03-31
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| Keywords | Molecular Robotics / Collective Behaviors / Swarm / Microfluidics / Quality-Diversity / Reaction-Diffusion |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
On the theoretical side, we followed the original plan and worked on three aspects: (a) extension of the quality-diversity algorithm, including automatic feature extraction from time traces with VAE, (b) implementation of a hardware robotic system inspired by our approach (extending our SWARM paper from last year), and (c) analysis of communication and synchronization through enzyme saturation.
On the experimental side, we focused on exploring the capabilities of our molecular robots through the following aspects: (a) controlled emergence of complex parasitic systems (accepted at the ALIFE conference), (b) implementation of a cascaded DNA reaction-diffusion system in a hydrogel medium, (c) demonstration of molecular robots aggregation/disaggregation by human-aided addition of signal DNA molecules, and (d) development of a DNA origami structures potentially capable of transporting molecules across the membrane of a robot (necessary for communication between robots).
Finally, we put efforts on implementing the collaboration with the French side. We organized a 2 days workshop centered on the teams and collaborators of both sides and had regular communications on microfluidic system designs and hardware robots.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
3: Progress in research has been slightly delayed.
Reason
The project progressed rather smoothly on most aspects related to theoretical computation and modeling, following closely the original schedule. However, aspects related to hardware implementation have been delayed as collaboration with the French side were slowed down by the current pandemic, while their work on the project had to be postponed as well.
Similarly, while we made progress on most aspects of the experimental implementation of our project, online collaborative work on microfluidic aspects has been slower than the original plan.
Overall, those delays are compensated by additional efforts made on the Japanese side, leading to the publication and acceptance of multiple research papers (e.g. ALIFE conference, Soft Matter, Chem-Bio journal, Micromachines, Biophysics and Physicobiology).
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
As most aspect are on schedule, we aim to follow the original plan for next year.
On the theoretical side, we plan to scale up the exploration of behaviors thanks to the algorithm developed during the current year. Additionally, we plan to finalize the hardware implementation inspired by our reaction-diffusion system in simulation and move on to its physical implementation if the robots prepared by the French team are ready.
On the experimental side, we plan to keep working on developing gel-based reaction diffusion systems as well as performing in-vitro assembly and disassembly of robots, for dynamic behaviors. We will also evaluate the performance of those molecular robots for simple dynamic tasks.
Finally, we will continue to connect with the French team online, through annual meet ups. If the situation allows it, we well also travel to the French side to have a hands on research workshop.
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| Causes of Carryover |
Due to the online nature of international interactions this year, most of the budget allocated to travelling, as well as some hardware that was supposed to be used with the French team has been saved up.
We plan to use those founds in two ways: first, once traveling is allowed, we will not only visit the team in France, but also allow them to visit us for collaborative work; second, we plan to re-allocate some of the budget toward personnel expenditure as needed, to performed additional experiments, following the current developments in designs. That second point is allow expected to incur additional costs in terms of consumables, that we plan to cover with the remaining amount.
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Research Products
(10 results)
