Collective dynamics of bristlebots

Bristlebots are very simple small robots that are commercialized under different names as toys for children (and adults). They seem to have inspired many youtubers. In a joint work with E. Climent, F. Plouraboue and O. Praud from Toulouse fluid mechanics lab IMFT, G. Dimarco from Ferrara and my former student T. B. N Mac, we have studied the dynamics of swarms of bristlebots confined in a disk and an annulus. The talk will report on the experimental and modelling results and will feature some live experiments.