Motion modes of two self-propelled camphor boats on the surface of a surfactant-containing solution

The existence of a surface tension difference and a surface flow around self-propelled objects, such as camphor boats, has been confirmed by many studies. However, the interactions in the collective motion of several camphor boats have not been explicitly discussed. Here, a model system of two camphor boats was investigated for the first time from the viewpoint of surface tension and surface flow.

The behavior of one fixed boat and one movable boat on a sodium dodecylsulfate aqueous solution in an oval track has been studied as a model system of two-body interactions. The surface tension around the movable boat was measured using the non-invasive, double-beam quasi-elastic laser scattering method. The Marangoni surface flow was quantitatively estimated using a mock boat in order to evaluate the net repulsive interaction between the two boats.

We succeeded in controlling the motion of the two camphor boats by varying the boat characteristics and the surfactant concentration. The balance/unbalance between the surface tension distribution and the surface flow around the boats was found to drive two different behavior modes: stationary and oscillatory. These results allow us to gain further insight into the dynamics of the interactions in the collective behavior of autonomous inanimate objects.