Automated decision-making by chemical echolocation in active droplets.

Motile microorganisms, like bacteria and algae, unify abilities like self-propulsion, autonomous navigation, and decision-making on the micron scale. While recent breakthroughs have led to the creation of synthetic microswimmers and nanoagents that can also self-propel, they still lack the functionality and sophistication of their biological counterparts. This study pioneers a mechanism enabling synthetic agents to autonomously navigate and make decisions, allowing them to solve mazes and transport cargo through complex environments without requiring external cues or guidance. The mechanism exploits chemo-hydrodynamic signals, produced by agents like active droplets or colloids, to remotely sense and respond to their environment-similar to echolocation. Our research paves the way for endowing autonomous, motile synthetic agents with functionalities that have been so far exclusive to biological organisms.

• Publication year

  2026

• Venue

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

• Publication date

  2026-01-01

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, Engineering

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1073/pnas.2526773123arXiv 2601.00480PMID 41609679PMCID PMC12867746
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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