ArticleScience advances2025
Emergent functional dynamics of link-bots.
Article in Science advances, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
Synthetic active collectives, made of nonliving individuals that cooperatively change group shape and dynamics, hold promise for practical applications and understanding of their natural analogs. We investigate how simple steric interaction constraints between active individuals produce a versatile and functional system using the link-bot: a V-shape-based, single-stranded chain composed of active bots whose dynamics are defined by geometric linking constraints. A variety of emergent properties arises from this active polymer-like system, including locomotion, navigation, transportation, and competitive or cooperative interactions. By adjusting a few link parameters, we show how link-bots can perform diverse tasks, including traversing or obstructing narrow spaces, passing by or enclosing objects, and propelling loads in different directions. Overall, the reconfigurability of link-bots indicates their potential in developing programmable soft robotic systems with simple components and materials at any scale.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.