Modeling and implementation of a networked system of bio-inspired autonomous mobile sensors with applications to real time angiogenesis, drug delivery, and environmental monitoring.

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Systems of interacting living organisms display a variety of cooperative strategies and collective behaviours, as well as fine adaptations to their environments, as individuals sense each other and the environment through different communication channels. The wide range of spatial and temporal scales at which these systems operate motivates multidisciplinary studies to understand and model their peculiar characteristics. At the evolutionary time scales, all organisms from very simple to complex, adapt to their environment through behaviours that allow them to navigate through their environments. The mechanics of biological systems locomotion is studied to understand the structure of interactions with diverse environments, which in turn can inform robotic design in the attempt of adopting the same solutions that are often characterized by robustness, adaptability, and extensibility to a variety of scenarios. In the context of this research, the physics and mechanics of millipedes and centipedes has been used to elaborate a mathematical model for a robotic device, targeting the following main characteristics: (1) Autonomous operation; (2) Capability of navigating in different environments; (3) Capability of sensing properties of the environment, as for example stiffness and density of the substrate. Millipedes and centipedes posses elongated flexible bodies, sustained by distributions of legs in contact with the environment. The redundancy of the legs ensures persistent contact and therefore the capability of moving in uneven terrains. Moreover, the bodies' flexibility allows for shape morphing with respect to the substrate, facilitating the navigation.