First Passage Properties of Active Self-propelled Systems through Obstacles

Recent studies suggest that the motility phases of active matter systems depend sensitively on the structural features of their environment. In this study, we investigate the first passage properties of an active self-propelled system - a robotic bug - as it navigates through a heterogeneous environment characterised by spatially patterned densities of obstacles. We show, using extensive experiments and simulations, that different spatial patterning - as characterized by the nature of the obstacles, their number, and physical properties - can give rise to non-trivial first passage properties. We discuss how these results can theoretically be interpreted by simple physical arguments that highlight the interplay between energy and entropy in these systems.