Modelling Cocoon Spinning:
An Agent-Based Computational Approach

In this joint publication from the Clusters of Excellence Matters of Activity and Integrative Computational Design and Construction for Transformative Architecture, we present an agent-based computational modeling approach of cocoon-spinning. Congratulations to first authors Lior Skoury (University of Stuttgart) and Nikolai Rosenthal (MPIKG), and contributing authors Thomas Wortmann, Achim Menges (both University of Stuttgart), Peter Fratzl, Michaela Eder, and Karola Dierichs (all MPIKG)!

An agent-based modelling (ABM) approach is proposed, which allows for simulating the spinning of cocoon structures based on a set of behaviours abstracted from the Bombyx mori silkworm. Agent-based models (ABMs) are aimed at the simulation and modelling of autonomous agents that interact with their environment based on a set of behaviours and boundary conditions. While previous computational approaches mainly address the simulation of tracking data gathered from the silkworm itself, the suggested ABM approach uses already established data as input for a computational model generation. In biology, such an agent-based framework can support the inverse understanding of patterns occurring in biological systems. It can also serve as an interface for biological materials science and architectural design by allowing the translation of biological processes into algorithmic procedures for architecture-scale structures. The proposed project is thus situated at the intersection of biological materials science and computational design. The current state of research on the spinning behaviour of the silkworm Bombyx mori is covered in literature. This is taken as a starting point to extract the motion patterns that are then translated into an ABM in a parametric modelling environment using a custom-written ABM framework. Two different agent-based modelling approaches are developed: one simulating the trajectory of the silk-filament as it is laid by the silkworm, and the other simulating the enclosed volume and its articulation through the movement trajectories. Comparison with the biological system shows that with a simple set of behavious both models can create cocoon architectures similar to the biological model system. Meanwhile, they allow direct, adaptive transfer into design and construction processes. Conversely, they open up the possibility to infer relations between spinning behaviour, structural organization, and functional properties. As an outlook, applications of the proposed ABMs in biomaterials science as well as architecture are discussed.

Find the article here: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-3190/ae91bf