Self-Organization and Templates Andrew “Tookie” Matiukas

Self-Organization (Previously) Self-Organization is the formation of clusters Corpse piles Brood Sorting Larger Clusters grow even larger More attractive than smaller clusters Arbitrary Locations Clusters appear in arbitrary locations as there is nothing controlling where they first form

Templates A pattern used to create another pattern In Swarm AI pre-existing pattern that shapes the results of the self-organization Termite Queen and royal chamber Brood pile and the ant nest Definition of a template Termite Queen pheromone acts as template Brood pile as template for building around it

Termite Template Workers deposit pellets around the queen Pheromone emitted by the queen controls distance from her Pellets have own pheromone Causes self-organization of the workers Column building behavior Queen pheromone overrides the pellets The queen’s pheromone acts as a gradient, when threshold is met means deposit pellet Pellet piles attract other pellets Columns form where a pile of pellets continues to attract more pellets, more than surrounding areas Queen pheromone gradient threshold matters more, must be met before checking for the pellet pheromone

Ant Templates Templates can also be natural gradients Temperature gradient Acantholepsis custodiens moves eggs, larvae, and pupae as temperature changes in the hill Image unavailable (look at board) 3 am eggs close to top, then larvae, then pupae At 3 pm eggs much lower down, larvae much much lower down, and pupae at bottom

Math Models of Royal Chamber Construction Changes in concentration of pellet pheromone is a function of: Number of pellets Pheromone decay Pheromone diffusion R is location and t is time

Math Models of Royal Chamber Construction (continued) Density of termites with pellets is a function of: Inflow of loaded termites (temporary constant flow) Amount of deposited pellets Random movement of termites Attractiveness of pheromone gradient

Notes on the Model Columns do not always form Caused by too few termites (low density of workers) Rate of pellets dropped too low Model does not show observed double movement Same results none the less

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