Fire ants build self-healing towers

Phonekeo, Sulisay Sulisay

Title:

Fire ants build self-healing towers

dc.contributor.advisor	Hu, David L.
dc.contributor.author	Phonekeo, Sulisay Sulisay
dc.contributor.committeeMember	Tovey, Craig A
dc.contributor.committeeMember	Rogers, Jonathan
dc.contributor.department	Mechanical Engineering
dc.date.accessioned	2017-01-11T13:56:21Z
dc.date.available	2017-01-11T13:56:21Z
dc.date.created	2015-12
dc.date.issued	2015-08-05
dc.date.submitted	December 2015
dc.date.updated	2017-01-11T13:56:21Z
dc.description.abstract	This study considers the construction and preservation of structures built by fire ants, {\it Solenopsis Invicta}. The construction of shelter is a universal ability of living systems, and is manifested among caterpillar tents, bird nests, and primate nests. While much headway has been made into the principles of swarm behavior in bird flocks and schools of fish, less is understood about how systems can self-assemble to build temporary shelters. This study uses videography to show how fire ants can build structures much larger than themselves: by designing structures of particular shape and using the ability to self-heal to preserve the structures. We used micro scale observations to predict the construction of fire ant towers and conducted material testing on fire ant aggregate to quantify their physical properties. In addition, we compare ant aggregates to cell aggregates to develop common experimental methods to study the collective motion of these self-assemblages. The mechanisms and rules found here may contribute to the studies of both living and robotic swarms.
dc.description.degree	M.S.
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/1853/56155
dc.language.iso	en_US
dc.publisher	Georgia Institute of Technology
dc.subject	Swarm, Self-assembly
dc.title	Fire ants build self-healing towers
dc.type	Text
dc.type.genre	Thesis
dspace.entity.type	Publication
local.contributor.advisor	Hu, David L.
local.contributor.corporatename	George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
local.contributor.corporatename	College of Engineering
relation.isAdvisorOfPublication	3a7c3f53-fa95-4af2-869f-4acb2ebc5b88
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication	c01ff908-c25f-439b-bf10-a074ed886bb7
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication	7c022d60-21d5-497c-b552-95e489a06569
thesis.degree.level	Masters