NetSE: Small:Autonomous Wireless Swarms: Integrating Science and Engineering

该项目将促进对能够共同完成复杂任务的简单车辆群的理解。罗西教授和沈教授的灵感来自群居动物，如鸟群和鱼群，它们通过简单的规则进行交流，协调行动，为整个群体做出决定。在生物学和技术应用中发现的规则可能存在显著差异。例如，鸟类通过视觉线索协调运动，而联网机器人通过无线通信协调活动。这两种类型的通信提供不同种类的信息，有不同的限制。教授。沈和罗西对自主水下航行器特别感兴趣，因为它们面临着低或不规则的通信质量和糟糕的位置信息的挑战。沈和罗西将把数学建模和分析与工程应用相结合，研究具体问题。首先，他们将探索群体中的领导力，以了解群体中的少数个体如何影响整个群体的决策。其次，他们将研究背景水流存在下的蜂群行为，以了解水流如何扭曲或分解在平静条件下有效的蜂群。第三，他们将研究威胁回避策略，以了解当个体逃避不可能时，复杂的运动如何保护一个群体。最后，他们将研究协调检测标量场，如海洋中的营养物质或污染物。教授。沈和罗西将围绕这些问题建立一个跨学科的研究团队，包括来自数学和计算机科学的学生。

This project will advance the understanding of swarms of simple vehicles that can collectively accomplish complex tasks. Prof. Rossi and Shen take their inspiration from social animals such as flocks of birds and schools of fish that communicate using simple rules to coordinate motion and make decisions for the entire group. There can be significant differences between rules found in biology and technological applications. For instance, birds coordinate motion with visual cues whereas networked robots coordinate activities using wireless communication. These two types of communication provide different kinds of information and have different limitations. Profs. Shen and Rossi are particularly interested in autonomous underwater vehicles because they face the challenge of low or irregular communication quality and poor position information.Profs. Shen and Rossi will combine mathematical modeling and analysis with engineering applications to study specific problems. First, they will explore leadership within swarms to understand how small numbers of individuals within a swarm can shape decision making for the entire group. Second, they will study swarm behavior in the presence of background flows to understand how currents can distort or disassemble swarms that would be effective in calm conditions. Third, they will study threat avoidance strategies to understand how complex motion can protect a swarm when individual evasion is impossible. Finally, they will study coordinated detection of a scalar field such as nutrients or contaminants in the ocean. Profs. Shen and Rossi will create an interdisciplinary research team around these problems involving students from both mathematics and computer science.