BABOTS: The design and control of small swarming biological animal robots

Deliverables

Ethics framework (Part I)

Comprehensive ethics framework covering BABots research, development, and possible future applications (T4.1)

RP1 Quality assessment reports

Update on the assessment of management activities/ advancement, risk analysis, contingency measures (T6.5)

RP2 Quality Assessment Reports

Update of the assessment of management activities/advancement, risk analysis,contingency measures (T6.5)

Website and project logo

Website and project logo information with also social media link

Quality assessment reports

Assessment of management activities/advancement, risk analysis, contingency measures (T6.5)

Prototype of natural/virtual chemical gradients (Report)

Efficacy of microfluidic/optogenetictechnologies in chemosensory environments(T2.1)

Publications

Geometrical Structure of Bifurcations during Spatial Decision-Making

Author(s): Dan Gorbonos, Nir S. Gov, Iain D. Couzin
Published in: PRX Life, Issue 2, 2024, ISSN 2835-8279
Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)
DOI: 10.1103/PRXLife.2.013008

Understanding neural circuit function through synaptic engineering

Author(s): Ithai Rabinowitch, Daniel A. Colón-Ramos, Michael Krieg
Published in: Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Issue 25, 2024, ISSN 1471-003X
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
DOI: 10.1038/S41583-023-00777-8

Towering behavior and collective dispersal in Caenorhabditis nematodes

Author(s): Daniela M. Perez, Ryan Greenway, Thomas Stier, Narcís Font-Massot, Assaf Pertzelan, Siyu Serena Ding
Published in: Current Biology, Issue 35, 2025, ISSN 0960-9822
Publisher: Elsevier BV
DOI: 10.1016/J.CUB.2025.05.026

Spatiotemporal dynamics of locomotor decisions in Drosophila melanogaster

Author(s): Lior Lebovich; Tom Alisch; Edward S. Redhead; Matthew O. Parker; Yonatan Loewenstein; Iain D. Couzin; Benjamin L. de Bivort
Published in: bioRxiv, 2024, ISSN 2692-8205
Publisher: openRxiv
DOI: 10.1101/2024.09.04.611038

On turning maneuverability in self-propelled burst-and-coast swimming

Author(s): Li-Ming Chao, Iain D. Couzin, Liang Li
Published in: Physics of Fluids, Issue 36, 2025, ISSN 1070-6631
Publisher: AIP Publishing
DOI: 10.1063/5.0237171

Collective intelligence in animals and robots

Author(s): Iain D. Couzin
Published in: Nature Communications, Issue 16, 2025, ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
DOI: 10.1038/S41467-025-65814-9

An effective hydrodynamic description of marching locusts

Author(s): Dan Gorbonos, Felix B Oberhauser, Luke L Costello, Yannick Günzel, Einat Couzin-Fuchs, Benjamin Koger, Iain D Couzin
Published in: Physical Biology, Issue 21, 2024, ISSN 1478-3967
Publisher: IOP Publishing
DOI: 10.1088/1478-3975/ad2219

Virtual reality as an alternative to reproduction

Author(s): Häyry Matti
Published in: Discover Artificial Intelligence, Issue 5(3), 2025, ISSN 2731-0809
Publisher: Springer
DOI: 10.1007/S44163-024-00220-6

Roadmap for animate matter

Author(s): Giorgio Volpe, Nuno A M Araújo, Maria Guix, Mark Miodownik, Nicolas Martin, Laura Alvarez, Juliane Simmchen, Roberto Di Leonardo, Nicola Pellicciotta, Quentin Martinet, Jérémie Palacci, Wai Kit Ng, Dhruv Saxena, Riccardo Sapienza, Sara Nadine, João F Mano, Reza Mahdavi, Caroline Beck Adiels, Joe Forth, Christian Santangelo, Stefano Palagi, Ji Min Seok, Victoria A Webster-Wood, Shuhong Wang, Lining Yao, Amirreza Aghakhani, Thomas Barois, Hamid Kellay, Corentin Coulais, Martin van Hecke, Christopher J Pierce, Tianyu Wang, Baxi Chong, Daniel I Goldman, Andreagiovanni Reina, Vito Trianni, Giovanni Volpe, Richard Beckett, Sean P Nair, Rachel Armstrong
Published in: Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, Issue 37, 2025, ISSN 0953-8984
Publisher: IOP Publishing
DOI: 10.1088/1361-648X/ADEBD3

3D-MuPPET: 3D Multi-Pigeon Pose Estimation and Tracking

Author(s): Urs Waldmann, Alex Hoi Hang Chan, Hemal Naik, Máté Nagy, Iain D. Couzin, Oliver Deussen, Bastian Goldluecke, Fumihiro Kano
Published in: International Journal of Computer Vision, 2024, ISSN 0920-5691
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
DOI: 10.1007/s11263-024-02074-y

Nature

Author(s): Güniz Göze Eren; Leonard Böger; Marianne Roca; Fumie Hiramatsu; Jun Liu; Luis Alvarez; Desiree L. Goetting; Lewis A. Cockram; Nurit Zorn; Ziduan Han; Misako Okumura; Monika Scholz; James W. Lightfoot
Published in: Nature, Issue 651, 2026, ISSN 0028-0836
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
DOI: 10.1038/S41586-025-10009-X

Tailbeat perturbations improve swimming efficiency by reducing the phase lag between body motion and the resulting fluid response

Author(s): Li-Ming Chao, Laibing Jia, Siyuan Wang, Alexander Liberzon, Sridhar Ravi, Iain D Couzin, Liang Li
Published in: PNAS Nexus, Issue 3, 2024, ISSN 2752-6542
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae073

Risk and Retribution: How Punishment Uncertainty Weakens Norms of Cooperation

Author(s): Vincent Oberhauser, Iain Couzin, Mohammad Salahshour
Published in: OSF, 2025, ISSN 0000-0000
Publisher: OSF
DOI: 10.31235/OSF.IO/3EB5T_V1

A modular multi-color fluorescence microscope for simultaneous tracking of cellular activity and behavior

Author(s): Euphrasie Ramahefarivo; Leonard Böger; Takkasila Saichol; Behzad Shomali; Luis Alvarez; Monika Scholz
Published in: bioRxiv, 2025, ISSN 2692-8205
Publisher: openRxiv
DOI: 10.1101/2025.04.01.646316

Acoustic cognitive map–based navigation in echolocating bats

Author(s): Aya Goldshtein, Xing Chen, Eran Amichai, Arjan Boonman, Lee Harten, Omer Yinon, Yotam Orchan, Ran Nathan, Sivan Toledo, Iain D. Couzin, Yossi Yovel
Published in: Science, Issue 386, 2024, ISSN 0036-8075
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
DOI: 10.1126/SCIENCE.ADN6269

Evolution of altruistic rationality provides a solution to social dilemmas via rational reciprocity

Author(s): Mohammad Salahshour, Iain D. Couzin
Published in: Physical Review Research, Issue 7, 2025, ISSN 2643-1564
Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)
DOI: 10.1103/SZ5B-J75Y

The behavioral mechanisms governing collective motion in swarming locusts

Author(s): Sercan Sayin, Einat Couzin-Fuchs, Inga Petelski, Yannick Günzel, Mohammad Salahshour, Chi-Yu Lee, Jacob M. Graving, Liang Li, Oliver Deussen, Gregory A. Sword, Iain D. Couzin
Published in: Science, Issue 387, 2025, ISSN 0036-8075
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
DOI: 10.1126/SCIENCE.ADQ7832

On collective behavior in C. elegans

Author(s): Nemanja Antonic, Aymeric Vellinger, Elio Tuci
Published in: Frontiers in Neurorobotics, Issue 19, 2025, ISSN 1662-5218
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
DOI: 10.3389/FNBOT.2025.1689332

Non-invasive eye tracking and retinal view reconstruction in free swimming schooling fish

Author(s): Ruiheng Wu; Oliver Deussen; Iain D. Couzin; Liang Li
Published in: Communications Biology, 2024, ISSN 2399-3642
Publisher: Nature
DOI: 10.1038/S42003-024-07322-Y

Swarming transitions of self-propelled particles with anisotropic social interactions

Author(s): Zhanwei Gao, Iain D. Couzin
Published in: Physical Review Research, Issue 7, 2025, ISSN 2643-1564
Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)
DOI: 10.1103/PHYSREVRESEARCH.7.023144

PLoS Biology

Author(s): Staum, Michal; Abraham, Ayelet-Chen; Arbid, Reema; Birari, Varun Sanjay; Dominitz, Matanel; Rabinowitch, Ithai
Published in: PLOS Biology, 2024, ISSN 1544-9173
Publisher: Public Library of Science
DOI: 10.1371/JOURNAL.PBIO.3002729

Reverse engineering the control law for schooling in zebrafish using virtual reality

Author(s): Liang Li, Máté Nagy, Guy Amichay, Ruiheng Wu, Wei Wang, Oliver Deussen, Daniela Rus, Iain D. Couzin
Published in: Science Robotics, Issue 10, 2025, ISSN 2470-9476
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
DOI: 10.1126/SCIROBOTICS.ADQ6784

Revealing the mechanism and function underlying pairwise temporal coupling in collective motion

Author(s): Guy Amichay, Liang Li, Máté Nagy, Iain D. Couzin
Published in: Nature Communications, Issue 15, 2024, ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48458-z

Asymmetry in synaptic connectivity balances redundancy and reachability in the Caenorhabditis elegans connectome

Author(s): Varun Birari and Ithai Rabinowitch
Published in: iScience, 2024, ISSN 2589-0042
Publisher: Cell Press
DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110713

Whither Sentience?

Author(s): Matti Häyry, Tuija Takala
Published in: Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, 2026, ISSN 0963-1801
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
DOI: 10.1017/S0963180126100073

Collective behavior from surprise minimization

Author(s): Conor Heins, Beren Millidge, Lancelot Da Costa, Richard P. Mann, Karl J. Friston, Iain D. Couzin
Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Issue 121, 2024, ISSN 0027-8424
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2320239121

RoboTwin: A Platform to Study Hydrodynamic Interactions in Schooling Fish

Author(s): Liang Li, Li-Ming Chao, Siyuan Wang, Oliver Deussen, Iain D. Couzin
Published in: IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine, Issue 31, 2024, ISSN 1070-9932
Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
DOI: 10.1109/mra.2023.3348303

Sensory collectives in natural systems

Author(s): Hannah J Williams, Vivek H Sridhar, Edward Hurme, Gabriella EC Gall, Natalia Borrego, Genevieve E Finerty, Iain D Couzin, C Giovanni Galizia, Nathaniel J Dominy, Hannah M Rowland, Mark E Hauber, James P Higham, Ariana Strandburg-Peshkin, Amanda D Melin
Published in: eLife, Issue 12, 2023, ISSN 2050-084X
Publisher: eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
DOI: 10.7554/elife.88028

Behavioral adjustment of C. elegans to mechanosensory loss requires intact mechanosensory neurons

Author(s): Michal Staum, Ayelet-Chen Abraham, Reema Arbid, Varun Birari, Matanel Dominitz, Ithai Rabinowitch
Published in: PLoS Biology, 2024, ISSN 1545-7885
Publisher: Public Library of Science
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002729

In vivo RNA targeting in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans using exogenous catalytic DNA

Author(s): Eriс Khananshvilli, Ayelet-Chen Abraham, Netanel Cohen, Michal Staum, Dorene Friedman, Ithai Rabinowitch
Published in: BioTechniques, Issue 78, 2026, ISSN 0736-6205
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
DOI: 10.1080/07366205.2026.2678313

Predatory aggression evolved through adaptations to noradrenergic circuits

Author(s): Güniz Göze Eren, Leonard Böger, Marianne Roca, Fumie Hiramatsu, Jun Liu, Luis Alvarez, Desiree L. Goetting, Lewis A. Cockram, Nurit Zorn, Ziduan Han, Misako Okumura, Monika Scholz, James W. Lightfoot
Published in: Nature, Issue 651, 2026, ISSN 0028-0836
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
DOI: 10.1038/S41586-025-10009-X

Resolving transitions between distinct phases of memory consolidation at high resolution in Caenorhabditis elegans

Author(s): Netanel Cohen; Ithai Rabinowitch
Published in: iScience, 2024, ISSN 2589-0042
Publisher: Elsevier
DOI: 10.1016/J.ISCI.2024.111147

Lévy-modulated Correlated Random Walks in Swarm Robotics

Author(s): Luigi Feola, Vito Trianni
Published in: Swarm Intelligence, Issue 20, 2026, ISSN 1935-3812
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
DOI: 10.1007/S11721-026-00258-5

Behavioural Classification in C. elegans : a Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Locomotion

Author(s): Nemanja Antonic, Monika Scholz, Aymeric Vellinger, Euphrasie Ramahefarivo, Elio Tuci
Published in: ALIFE 2025: Ciphers of Life: Proceedings of the Artificial Life Conference 2025, Issue 37, 2025, ISSN 2693-1508
Publisher: MIT Press
DOI: 10.1162/ISAL.A.880

Strong leaders don’t cheat: an evolutionary appraisal of population heterogeneity and leadership

Author(s): Longhi, Carlo; Martinez-Vaquero, Luis A.; Vázquez, Fernando Wario; Trianni, Vito
Published in: ALife proceedings
Publisher: MIT Press
DOI: 10.1162/ISAL_A_00819

Hybrid Modelling of Stimuli-Based and Density-Induced Aggregation in C. elegans

Author(s): Vellinger, Aymeric; Antonic, Nemanja; Tuci, Elio
Published in: ALife proceedings
Publisher: MIT Press
DOI: 10.1162/ISAL_A_00763

Minimalist exploration strategies for robot swarms at the edge of chaos

Author(s): Vinicius Sartorio, Luigi Feola, Vito Trianni, Jonata Tyska Carvalho
Published in: Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference, 2025
Publisher: ACM
DOI: 10.1145/3712256.3726311

From Pheromones to Policies: Reinforcement Learning for Engineered Biological Swarms

Author(s): Aymeric Vellinger, Nemanja Antonic, Elio Tuci
Published in: Zenodo
Publisher: Zenodo
DOI: 10.48550/ARXIV.2509.20095

Chemotactic Swarming of C. elegans as a Collective Decision-Making Process

Author(s): Nemanja Antonic, Aymeric Vellinger, Elio Tuci
Published in: Communications in Computer and Information Science, Artificial Life and Evolutionary Computation, 2025
Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-93631-9_5

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