Navigation algorithm for autonomous devices based on biological waves

Abstract

Bistable systems are known to produce, under some circumstances, patterns with a well-defined wavelength. Two fronts, rather than annihilating upon collision as it is typically observed in excitation waves, they stop at a distance from each other that coincides with the characteristic wavelength of the pattern. In this paper, we show how to use these properties of fronts in bistable systems to solve computational problems such as finding the shortest path in a labyrinth and navigation through a field with walls (labyrinth without the knowledge of the end point).