CPS:Medium:Ant-Like Microrobots - Fast, Small, and Under Control

这项研究的目的是发现新的基本原理、设计方法和技术，以实现自组织成协作构型的亚立方米、蚂蚁大小的移动微型机器人的分布式网络。该方法本质上是跨学科的，并沿着四个主要方向组织：(1)在严格的功率、通信和移动性限制下的分布式协调和控制算法。(2)使用基于事件的通信和计算、超低功率无线电和自适应模拟数字集成电路的机器人控制电子设备。(3)采用快速成型和MEMS技术的移动装置和高效执行器，可在真实世界条件下稳健运行。(4)将算法、电子学和执行器集成到蚂蚁大小的微型机器人舰队中。由于它们的发展面临许多开放的挑战，因此不存在亚立方米规模的机器人。这项研究将确定和确定解决这些挑战的方法。此外，它还将为资源受限算法、体系结构和执行器方面的突出问题提供新的解决方案，这些问题可以在其他应用程序中广泛利用。PIS将采用合作设计理念，促进跨学科研究和紧密合作。蚂蚁大小的机器人网络预计将在救灾、制造、仓库管理和生态监测以及新的不可预见的应用中有用。此外，本文提出的新方法和新原理也可以过渡到其他高度分布式和资源受限的工程问题，如空中交通管制系统。这项研究计划将培养具有混合分布式网络设计独特技能的博士生，并将涉及本科生，特别是未被充分代表的少数民族和女性。

The objective of this research is to discover new fundamental principles, design methods, and technologies for realizing distributed networks of sub-cm3, ant-sized mobile micro-robots that self-organize into cooperative configurations. The approach is intrinsically interdisciplinary and organized along four main thrusts: (1) Algorithms for distributed coordination and control under severe power, communication, and mobility constraints. (2) Electronics for robot control using event-based communication and computation, ultra-low-power radio, and adaptive analog-digital integrated circuits. (3) Locomotion devices and efficient actuators using rapid-prototyping and MEMS technologies that can operate robustly under real-world conditions. (4) Integration of the algorithms, electronics, and actuators into a fleet of ant-size micro-robots.No robots at the sub-cm3 scale exist because their development faces a number of open challenges. This research will identify and determine means for solving these challenges. In addition, it will provide new solutions to outstanding questions about resource-constrained algorithms, architectures, and actuators that can be widely leveraged in other applications. The PIs will adopt a co-design philosophy that promotes cross-disciplinary research and tight collaboration.Networks of ant-sized robots are expected to be useful in disaster relief, manufacturing, warehouse management, and ecological monitoring, as well as in new unforeseen applications. In addition, the new methods and principles proposed here can be transitioned to other highly-distributed and resource-constrained engineering problems, such as air-traffic control systems. This research program will train Ph.D. students with unique skills in the design of hybrid distributed networks and it will involve undergraduate students, particularly underrepresented minorities and women.