@article{RoemerCosarinskyRoces2020,
  author    = {R{\"o}mer, Daniela and Cosarinsky, Marcela I. and Roces, Flavio},
  title     = {Selection and spatial arrangement of building materials during the construction of nest turrets by grass-cutting ants},
  series = {Royal Society Open Science},
  volume    = {7},
  journal   = {Royal Society Open Science},
  doi       = {10.1098/rsos.201312},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-230458},
  year      = {2020},
  abstract  = {Ants build complex nest structures by reacting to simple, local stimuli. While underground nests result from the space generated by digging, some leaf- and grass-cutting ants also construct conspicuous aboveground turrets around nest openings. We investigated whether the selection of specific building materials occurs during turret construction in Acromyrmex fracticornis grass-cutting ants, and asked whether single building decisions at the beginning can modify the final turret architecture. To quantify workers' material selection, the original nest turret was removed and a choice between two artificial building materials, thin and thick sticks, was offered for rebuilding. Workers preferred thick sticks at the very beginning of turret construction, showed varying preferences thereafter, and changed to prefer thin sticks for the upper, final part of the turret, indicating that they selected different building materials over time to create a stable structure. The impact of a single building choice on turret architecture was evaluated by placing artificial beams that divided a colony's nest entrance at the beginning of turret rebuilding. Splitting the nest entrance led to the self-organized construction of turrets with branched galleries ending in multiple openings, showing that the spatial location of a single building material can strongly influence turret morphology.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{KempfScharnaglHeiletal.2022,
  author    = {Kempf, Florian and Scharnagl, Julian and Heil, Stefan and Schilling, Klaus},
  title     = {Self-organizing control-loop recovery for predictive networked formation control of fractionated spacecraft},
  series = {Aerospace},
  volume    = {9},
  journal   = {Aerospace},
  number    = {10},
  issn      = {2226-4310},
  doi       = {10.3390/aerospace9100529},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-288041},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {Going beyond the current trend of cooperating multiple small satellites we arrive at fractionated satellite architectures. Here the subsystems of all satellites directly self-organize and cooperate among themselves to achieve a common mission goal. Although this leads to a further increase of the advantages of the initial trend it also introduces new challenges, one of which is how to perform closed-loop control of a satellite over a network of subsystems. We present a two-fold approach to deal with the two main disturbances, data losses in the network and failure of the controller, in a networked predictive formation control scenario. To deal with data loss an event based networked model predictive control approach is extended to enable it to adapt to changing network conditions. The controller failure detection and compensation approach is tailored for a possibly large network of heterogeneous cooperating actuator- and controller nodes. The self-organized control task redistribution uses an auction-based methodology. It scales well with the number of nodes and allows to optimize for continuing good control performance despite the controller switch. The stability and smooth control behavior of our approach during a self-organized controller failure compensation while also being subject to data losses was demonstrated on a hardware testbed using as mission a formation control scenario.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{CosarinskyRoemerRoces2020,
  author    = {Cosarinsky, Marcela I. and R{\"o}mer, Daniela and Roces, Flavio},
  title     = {Nest Turrets of Acromyrmex Grass-Cutting Ants: Micromorphology Reveals Building Techniques and Construction Dynamics},
  series = {Insects},
  volume    = {11},
  journal   = {Insects},
  number    = {2},
  issn      = {2075-4450},
  doi       = {10.3390/insects11020140},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-200680},
  year      = {2020},
  abstract  = {Acromyrmex fracticornis grass-cutting ants construct conspicuous chimney-shaped nest turrets made of intermeshed grass fragments. We asked whether turrets are constructed by merely piling up nearby materials around the entrance, or whether ants incorporate different materials as the turret develops. By removing the original nest turrets and following their rebuilding process over three consecutive days, age-dependent changes in wall morphology and inner lining fabrics were characterized. Micromorphological descriptions based on thin sections of turret walls revealed the building behaviors involved. Ants started by collecting nearby twigs and dry grass fragments that are piled up around the nest entrance. Several large fragments held the structure like beams. As a net-like structure grew, soil pellets were placed in between the intermeshed plant fragments from the turret base to the top, reinforcing the structure. Concomitantly, the turret inner wall was lined with soil pellets, starting from the base. Therefore, the consolidation of the turret occurred both over time and from its base upwards. It is argued that nest turrets do not simply arise by the arbitrary deposition of nearby materials, and that workers selectively incorporate large materials at the beginning, and respond to the developing structure by reinforcing the intermeshed plant fragments over time.},
  language  = {en}
}