  A 1D model of interacting particles moving over a periodic substrate and in a
position dependent temperature profile is considered. When the substrate and
the temperature profile are spatially asymmetric a center-of-mass velocity
develops, corresponding to a directed transport of the chain. This autonomous
system can thus transform heath currents into motion. The model parameters can
be tuned such that the particles exhibit a crossover from an ordered
configuration on the substrate to a disordered one, the maximal motor effect
being reached in such a disordered phase. In this case the manybody motor
outperforms the single motor system, showing the great importance of collective
effects in microscopic thermal devices. Such collective effects represent thus
a free resource that can be exploited to enhance the dynamic and thermodynamic
performances in microscopic machines.
