NSF Convergence Accelerator Track M: Slime Mold Inspired Self-Assembling Conveyor System for Flood Response

这个融合研究项目将开发一种创新的受黏液霉菌启发的机器人系统，该系统旨在自主构建一个浮动输送网络，在洪水淹没的城市环境中运输货物托盘。该项目的主要目标是解决纽约市地区不断升级的洪水威胁。气候变化加剧了这种洪水，目前每年造成的损失超过1亿美元。尽管这些事件对经济和社会产生了重大影响，但现有技术缺乏采取应对行动的有效工具。拟议中的机器人系统有可能彻底改变洪水响应，使救援人员能够更有效地运作，拯救生命并保护关键基础设施。研究人员从黏菌中获得灵感，黏菌经常在水体上形成营养物质运输网络。这些生物为洪水地区的货物运输提供了一种令人信服的行为模式。研究人员将利用他们之前研究的见解来制作一种仿生机器人算法，该算法将使数百个机器人“瓷砖”重新排列，形成一个能够在洪水地区运输托盘货物的输送系统。这项工作将包括首先提取黏菌行为的算法基础，并将这些行为转化为自适应运输网络增长的群体机器人算法。研究人员还将开发和制造能够执行该算法和运输货物的机器人，并将使用一小群机器人原型来演示算法行为。最后，研究人员将通过一系列焦点小组和用户研究，研究如何最好地将这个机器人系统集成到现有的救灾工作流程中。该项目的总体交付成果将是一个以用户为中心的机器人自组装系统的全栈实现，该系统基于自然界观察到的网络增长原则运行。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This convergent research project will develop an innovative slime-mold inspired robotic system designed to autonomously construct a floating conveyor network that will transport pallets of goods in flooded urban environments. The primary goal of this project is to address the escalating threat of flooding in the New York City area. This flooding has been exacerbated by climate change and currently results in over one hundred million dollars in damages annually. Despite the significant economic and societal impact of these events, existing technologies lack effective tools for responsive action. The proposed robotic system has the potential to revolutionize flood response, empowering rescue workers to operate more efficiently, saving lives and safeguarding critical infrastructure.The researchers draw inspiration from slime molds, which often form nutrient-transport networks over bodies of water. These organisms offer a compelling behavioral model for goods delivery in flooded regions. The researchers will leverage their insights from previous research to craft a bio-inspired robot algorithm that will enable hundreds of robot “tiles” to re-arrange themselves to form a conveyor system capable of transporting palletized goods in flooded areas. This work will involve first distilling the algorithmic underpinnings of the slime mold behavior and translating these behaviors into swarm robot algorithms for adaptive transport network growth. The researchers will also develop and build robots capable of executing this algorithm and of transporting goods and will demonstrate algorithm behaviors using a small swarm of robot prototypes. Finally, the researchers will investigate how to best integrate this robotic system into existing disaster relief workflows through a series of focus groups and user studies. The overall deliverable of this project will be a full-stack realization of a user-focused robotic self-assembling system that operates based on network growth principles observed in nature.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.