An intrepid ant from Liberty Science Center’s new ant colony carries our logo triumphantly to the fungus pile.

The ants go marching one by one.
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The ants go marching one by one.
Hurrah! Hurrah!

We are all familiar with this classic kids’ tune. The visual that comes to mind is a colony of ants moving single file from one place to another. That’s what they do! When ants go on the march for food, they also leave a trail of pheromone – a chemical signal. An ant can find its way back by following its own pheromone trail back to the nest. If the ant were to find food, it would secrete more pheromone to create a stronger trail. That way, other ants from the nest would be able to follow the trail to the food source.

Bees also produce pheromones. Bees from a hive will cluster around or swarm the queen because she gives off specific pheromones.

Scientists from the University of Lincoln in the United Kingdom have come up with a way to merge this natural phenomenon into new technology. A team of engineers has designed robots that use pheromone-based communication. Robots normally communicate using wireless systems like radio or infrared frequencies. The new pheromone-based communication called COS-phi (Communication System via Pheromone) is faster, more cost-efficient, reliable, and precise.

COS-phi works by attaching a light sensor to each robot. The robots are then placed onto an LCD screen which can be changed and controlled. The wheeled robots are turned on and allowed to roam freely. A “pheromone” is released on the LCD screen in the form of a visual light trail. When the robots pick up the trail, they begin to follow it and move together in a swarm.

In the future, the hope is to have the robots release these “pheromones” themselves. There is a wide range of potential uses for these swarming robots. One possibility is having multiple micro-machines coming together to create much larger, intricate objects. Another possibility is being able to send a swarm of robots into collapsed buildings to rescue trapped people.

Sometimes, simply looking out the window and watching the bugs go marching can inspire a great idea. You can read more about this cool new technology here. After, you can learn more about Liberty Science Center’s new ant exhibition — Farmers, Warriors, Builders: The Hidden Life of Ants.

STEM Blog by Brittany Rosenberg. Brittany is a STEM Educator here at the Science Center. You may see her around the science center doing Live Science presentations or traveling around the area facilitating Traveling Science Programs.