Modeling and implementation of a networked system of bio-inspired autonomous mobile sensors with applications to real time angiogenesis, drug delivery, and environmental monitoring.

相互作用的生物体系统表现出各种合作策略和集体行为，以及对环境的良好适应，因为个体通过不同的沟通渠道感知彼此和环境。这些系统运作的空间和时间尺度的广泛范围激发了多学科研究，以理解和模拟其独特的特征。在进化的时间尺度上，从非常简单到复杂的所有生物，都通过行为来适应环境，使它们能够在环境中导航。研究生物系统的运动机制是为了理解与不同环境相互作用的结构，这反过来可以为机器人设计提供信息，以尝试采用相同的解决方案，这些解决方案通常具有鲁棒性、适应性和可扩展性。在本研究的背景下，利用千足虫和蜈蚣的物理和力学特征，针对以下主要特征，建立了机器人装置的数学模型：(1)自主操作；(2)在不同环境下的导航能力；(3)感知环境特性的能力，例如基材的刚度和密度。千足虫和蜈蚣拥有细长的柔韧的身体，通过与环境接触的腿的分布来维持。腿的冗余保证了持久的接触，因此能够在不平坦的地形上移动。此外，身体的灵活性允许形状变形相对于基底，方便导航。

Systems of interacting living organisms display a variety of cooperative strategies and collective behaviours, as well as fine adaptations to their environments, as individuals sense each other and the environment through different communication channels. The wide range of spatial and temporal scales at which these systems operate motivates multidisciplinary studies to understand and model their peculiar characteristics. At the evolutionary time scales, all organisms from very simple to complex, adapt to their environment through behaviours that allow them to navigate through their environments. The mechanics of biological systems locomotion is studied to understand the structure of interactions with diverse environments, which in turn can inform robotic design in the attempt of adopting the same solutions that are often characterized by robustness, adaptability, and extensibility to a variety of scenarios. In the context of this research, the physics and mechanics of millipedes and centipedes has been used to elaborate a mathematical model for a robotic device, targeting the following main characteristics: (1) Autonomous operation; (2) Capability of navigating in different environments; (3) Capability of sensing properties of the environment, as for example stiffness and density of the substrate. Millipedes and centipedes posses elongated flexible bodies, sustained by distributions of legs in contact with the environment. The redundancy of the legs ensures persistent contact and therefore the capability of moving in uneven terrains. Moreover, the bodies' flexibility allows for shape morphing with respect to the substrate, facilitating the navigation. This set of features are desirable in a robotic device autonomously negotiating unknown, unstructured environments. In recent work from my research group, a mathematical model based on these characteristics has been derived and demonstrated in simulation, and a first generation prototype is currently being manufactured. Building on these premises, I propose to extend theoretical results to the study of a networked system of these devices, in which several of them are coupled (for example through mechanical actions transmitted through a common substrate), and take advantage of multitasking and collective capabilities of the group, that emerge from cooperation. I envision tailoring the system to different important applications, such as real time angiogenesis, in which miniaturized versions of the devices continually monitor the health status of cardiovascular tissues in critical areas, and induce tissue repair when critical conditions are detected; drug delivery targeting specific functions and using physiological data as feedback to assess the effectiveness and adjust to dynamic conditions; and environmental monitoring with real time intervention and disaster prevention.