Bottom-up robust modelling for the foraging behaviour of <i>Physarum polycephalum</i>

The true slime mould <i>Physarum polycephalum</i> has the remarkable capability to perform self-organized activities such as network formation among food sources. Despite well reproducing the emergence of slime networks, existing models are limited in the investigation of the minimal mechanisms, at the microscopic scale, that ensure robust problem-solving capabilities at the macroscopic scale. To this end, we develop three progressively more complex multi-agent models to provide a flexible framework to understand the self-organized foraging and network formation behaviours of <i>Physarum</i>. The hierarchy of models allows for a stepwise investigation of the minimal set of rules that allow bio-inspired computing agents to achieve the desired behaviours on nutrient-poor substrates. By introducing a quantitative measure of connectedness among food sources, we assess the sensitivity of the model to user-defined and bio-inspired parameters, as well as the robustness of the model to parameter heterogeneity across agents. We ultimately observe the robust emergence of pattern formation, in line with experimental evidence. Overall, our study sheds light on the basic mechanisms of self-organization and paves the way towards the development of decentralized strategies for network formation in engineered systems, focusing on trade-offs between biological fidelity and computational efficiency.