Active matter as a framework for living systems-inspired Robophysics

¹ Department of Theoretical Physics, Complutense University of Madrid - 28040 Madrid, Spain
² Department of Computer Science, Sapienza University of Rome - Rome, Italy
³ Dept. Arquitectura de Computadores y Automatica, Facultad de Ciencias Fisicas, Universidad Complutense 28040 Madrid, Spain
⁴ Departamento de Estructura de la Materia, Física Térmica y Electrónica, Universidad Complutense de Madrid 28040 Madrid, Spain
⁵ GISC - Grupo Interdisciplinar de Sistemas Complejos - 28040 Madrid, Spain

Received: 18 November 2025
Accepted: 9 April 2026

Abstract

Robophysics investigates the physical principles that govern living-like robots operating in complex, real-world environments. Despite remarkable technological advances, robots continue to face fundamental efficiency limitations. At the level of individual units, locomotion remains a challenge, while at the collective level, robot swarms struggle to achieve shared purpose, coordination, communication, and cost efficiency. This perspective article examines the key challenges faced by bio-inspired robotic collectives and highlights recent research efforts that incorporate principles from active matter physics and biology into the modeling and design of robot swarms.