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种新的细胞自组织的泛化，作为一种自动化复杂和跨学科系统的设计和控制的方法。来自自然界的概念，如进化、细胞组织和自组织行为，是这项研究的灵感来源。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)的基于物理的三维模拟器环境中。规则和规则决定控制图形如何随状态变量和外场效应(如重力或温度)的变化，以模拟真实的物理和生物效应。计算框架将使网络-物理边界成为可能。很容易被移动。例如，框架将用作在制造之前设计器件的设计自动化工具(虚拟地模拟器件的环境)，并且还用作器件在实际操作中的控制系统，以便器件可以适应环境的变化。这将通过监控来自外部传感器的真实世界场并转换所产生的可重新配置设备的图形或配置来实现。这项研究是对已发表的各种技术(如细胞自动机、拓扑优化和粘土电子学)在单一方法下的概括。这样的框架对于解决跨学科和多物理设计问题是必要的，例如在机电一体化和机器人中发现的那些问题。结果将被广泛传播，以产生最大的影响。

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.