Ants inspire scientists with ideas on how to end traffic jams

“Ants are one of the few species that can manage bidirectional traffic flows, like our roads, but they move smoothly and without congestion,” explains Marco Guerrieri, professor specialized in road and railway infrastructure in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering and co-author of the study with Nicola Pugno, professor of solids and structural mechanics at the University of Trento and materials science at Queen Mary University of London.

Efficient human mobility

By observing a 30-centimeter ant trail (equivalent to 100 times the body length of each ant) ​​and analyzing video sequences with deep learning algorithms, the researchers They tracked the movements of each ant, mapping their trajectories, speeds, flows and densities.

“The ants continue pheromone trails marked by a leader ant and they move in platoons with small spaces and without overtaking,” says Guerrieri.

This strategy could make the human mobility is more efficient. Guerrieri says: “In the future, traffic systems for autonomous vehicles (CAVs) could be inspired by the behavior of ants. Just as insects communicate through pheromones, in smart roads, connected and automated vehicles ( CAV) could use advanced communication technologies to communicate with each other and with the road infrastructure management. In this way, they could form coordinated platoons, moving at high speeds with close spacing through parallel lanes. approach could improve traffic efficiency, improve service levels and reduce gas emissions.”