Analogy
with motion of blown sand
We have considered the collective movement of motes
towards a target located in a portion of the Martian surface that extends over
a range of several kilometers. This problem is part of a study for the design
and fabrication of smart dust for future space exploration missions. A smart
dust mote has approximately the density and volume of a coarse grain of sand.
It follows that the uncontrolled motion of smart dust is determined by the same
Aeolian processes of saltation, settling and surface
creep that govern the movement of sand in desert regions (R.A. Bagnold,
The physics of wind blown sand and desert dunes, Chapman and Hall, (1954).).
Proposed application to space
exploration
Analogy with motion of blown sand
Algorithms for collective motion
of smart dust
Back to the
Research Home Page of John Barker