
Research by the University of Trento has tracked the movements of ants to find out how they manage to move in an orderly manner even in the presence of high flows, avoiding congestion. Small hymenoptera strategies could provide a model for autonomous vehicle mobility on smart roads.
The world of ants has often inspired scientific research. As 'eusocial' animals, i.e. characterised by a high level of organisation and cooperation, ants have often provided guidance for solving seemingly complex problems in a simple way. And one of the most complex problems facing contemporary societies is undoubtedly mobility in man-made contexts.
Two professors from the University of Trento have studied the movements of these small insects to understand how they can move easily even in the presence of very high flows, avoiding "stop and go" phenomena. Their research resulted in a scientific article published in the journal "Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives" published by Elsevier.
"Ants," explains Marco Guerrieri, professor of Road and Railway Infrastructure Construction at the Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering and co-author of the research together with Nicola Pugno, "are among the few animals capable of following two-way routes, a bit like traffic on our roads. Yet, their movements are always very orderly, without slowdowns or congested stretches."
The two professors monitored the movement of a community of ants over a stretch of 30 centimeters, equal to a hundred times the length of each specimen. The recorded images were then analyzed with artificial intelligence techniques, in particular deep learning algorithms, to identify the individual insect and trace its trajectory and speed over time.
"We have observed," says Guerrieri, "how the movements follow paths identified by pheromones, therefore chemical traces left by a leader. The ants move as a platoon, that is, at a short distance and in parallel rows, without overtaking maneuvers."
A model that could also make human mobility more efficient: "For the future," Guerrieri concludes, "we can imagine road traffic regulation processes inspired by ants. Just as insects communicate through pheromones, self-driving vehicles (CAVs) circulating on smart roads (the so-called 'smart roads') can communicate with each other or with those who manage the infrastructure.
In this way, it is possible to create a march in coordinated platoons, with vehicles moving at high speed, but at close range, occupying all the space of the roadway in parallel rows. With great benefits for users in terms of improved service levels and reduction of polluting emissions."
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