Biological molecular motors are nanometer-sized stepping automata. 
Each can bind and unbind a polymer track (the microtubule) and pull/push on it. 
The problem is to discover the rules and engineering principles by which 
the springlike mechanisms of different molecular motors integrate effectively 
to produce concerted force and motion. There is much "prior art" on the 
biophysics of individual motors but almost nothing on the more realistic 
scenario where different microtubule motors combine to produce a large 
scale force and motion. The proposal is to approach this key problem from a 
complexity perspective, considering an ensemble of several types of motor 
automata, each with different properties, attached to a cargo and interacting 
with the microtubule. The motors can push and pull on one another and on 
the track, driving relative motion of the cargo and the motor ensemble at 
an observable velocity. Each motor-automaton has a range of behavioural 
options available to it. For example at any instant it can attach, detach, 
pause, step right or step left, and the choice between these options depends 
on the activities of the other members of the ensemble. The challenge is to 
build a mathematical description / simulation that makes concrete, testable 
predictions about the evolving short term and long term properties of the ensemble.