|
Russell Borduin
MAE Dept., University of Missouri
Advisor: Satish S. Nair
Abstract
This report is based on a previous paper [1], which we have submitted to the 2008 ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Conference. The use of agent based models to study social interactions amongst individuals is growing in popularity. Here it has been applied to aggregations of the insect Umbonia crassicornis. Although most of the individuals in a group of Umbonia are unaware of predator location, the signaling behavior of the group yields a pattern that provides the defending adult with information about predator presence and location. How the nymphs communicate with one another to produce this signal is currently unknown. We develop a computational model of the signaler-receiver interactions in this group to better understand these interactions. We test the emergence of informative global patterns by providing modeled nymphs with limited locally available information. Known parameters such as size of the aggregation and spatial distribution are estimated from experimental recordings. Although the research is ongoing, current findings suggest the nymphs communicate with one another through some other means than vibration, possibly visually.
Russell Borduin is currently 22 years of age and resides in his hometown of Columbia, Missouri. He is a senior in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Missouri, where he has been researching nonlinear modeling of biological systems under Dr. Satish Nair for the past 3 years. Russell is the President of the University of Missouri chapter of Engineers Without Borders as well as a member of Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society. He is planning to attend graduate school next semester.
|
