Simulating Chemical Reactions Using a Swarm of Miniature Robots

Abstract

We wish to simulate basic rules of chemistry using a swarm of miniature robots, which mimic atoms and forming molecules. Atomic scale interactions are difficult to observe and computer simulations or ball-and-stick models capture either behavioral or embodied aspects, but not both. Miniature robots that are able to determine their orientation and position with respect to each other and provide audible, visual, and tactile feedback to a user could make such simulations both interactive and tangible. We describe a working prototype of our swarm-robotic chemistry simulation which demonstrates concepts including electronegativity, reaction spontaneity, the octet rule, and hybridization. Here, the key challenge is that once we go beyond the most simple set of atoms, the outcome of reactions cannot be calculated from first principles. We solve this problem by letting robots exchange local measurements, the nearby atoms, their geometry, and molecules that have formed and then using a compact look-up table implementation, which suggests avenues of further studies for both physical chemistry and swarm robotics. We also present preliminary data recorded from a high-school demonstration evaluating using a tangible simulation of chemistry reactions as a teaching tool.

This research has been supported by NSF grant #1150223.