Collaborative Research: A Unified Cellular Self-Organizing Approach to Design Automation and Operation of Complex Systems

该研究奖的目标是创建一个新的细胞自组织的一般化，作为一种自动化设计和控制复杂和跨学科系统的方式。来自自然界的概念，如进化，细胞组织和自组织行为作为研究的灵感。研究人员正在创建一个基于四个元素的软件框架：图形，字段，规则和规则决策。这些图形用于定义系统架构和尺寸，并存在于具有相关内部状态变量（位置、速度、加速度、温度、应力等）的三维基于物理的模拟器环境中。规则和规则决策控制图形如何响应状态变量和外部场效应（如重力或温度），以模仿真实的物理和生物效应。计算框架将使？网络物理边界很容易被转移。例如，框架将用作设计自动化工具以在制造之前设计设备（虚拟地模拟设备的环境），并且还用作实际操作中的设备的控制系统，使得设备可以适应环境中的变化。这将通过监测来自外部传感器的真实世界场并转换所得到的可重构设备的图形或配置来实现。该研究是在一个单一的方法下的各种公布的技术（例如，元胞自动机，拓扑优化，和claytronics）的推广。这样一个框架是必要的解决跨学科和多物理设计问题，如机电一体化和机器人技术中发现的问题。调查结果将广为传播，以产生最大影响。

This objective of this research award is to create a new generalization of cellular self-organization as a way to automate the design and control of complex and interdisciplinary systems. Concepts from nature such as evolution, cellular organization, and self-organizing behavior serve as the inspiration for the research. The researchers are creating a software framework built on four elements: graphs, fields, rules, and rule decisions. The graphs are used to define system architecture and dimensions and exist within a three-dimensional physics-based simulator environment with pertinent internal state variables (positions, velocities, accelerations, temperatures, stresses, etc.). Rules and rule decisions govern how graphs change in response to state variables and external field effects like gravity or temperature in a manner that mimics true physical and biological effects. The computational framework will enable the ?cyber-physical boundary? to be easily shifted. For example, the framework would serve as a design automation tool to design a device before fabrication (simulating the environment of the device virtually) and also used as a control system for the device in actual operation so that the device might adapt to changes in the environment. This would occur by monitoring real-world fields from external sensors and transforming the graph or configuration of the resulting reconfigurable device. The research is a generalization of various published techniques (e.g. cellular automaton, topology optimization, and claytronics) under a single method. Such a framework is necessary for solving interdisciplinary and multi-physics design problems such as those found in mechatronics and robotics. The results will be widely disseminated for greatest impact.