CPS: Medium: Collaborative Research: Remote Imaging of Community Ecology via Animal-borne Wireless Networks

该项目将构建一个动物携带的嵌入式设备的无线网络，该网络将在生物相关应用中进行部署和测试。联网的设备不仅提供地理位置数据，而且还执行合作策略，通过选择性地记录感兴趣的动物群体行为（如捕食）发生的带宽密集型音频和高清视频片段来节省电池寿命。该项目包括三个并行和相互依存的研究主题。首先是调查的方法来设计和分析分布式算法的性能，实现自主决策的移动的代理，受通信和计算的限制。第二个将追求动物群体运动建模的数据驱动的基础研究，并将促进社会互动机制的正式理解。第三个是集中在硬件集成的方法的调查，以建立分布式网络的嵌入式设备，能够执行新开发的算法，受功率和重量的限制。该项目取得的成果和经验将指导发展监测和保护濒危物种的有效自治系统。该项目将在所有参与机构创造本科生和研究生研究机会，扩大马里兰州、普林斯顿大学和国家地理学会之间的现有合作。有可能利用影响广泛的媒体资源向广大受众传播这一项目的成果。这可能有助于吸引更多的学生学习工程和科学。

This project will construct a wireless network of animal-borne embedded devices that will be deployed and tested in a biologically-relevant application. The networked devices will provide not only geo-location data, but also execute cooperative strategies that save battery-life by selectively recording bandwidth-intensive audio and high-definition video footage of occurrences of animal group behavior of interest, such as predation. This project comprises three concurrent and interdependent research themes. The first is the investigation of methods to design and analyze the performance of distributed algorithms that implement autonomous decisions at the mobile agents, subject to communication and computational constraints. The second will pursue data-driven fundamental research on the modeling of animal group motion and will promote a formal understanding of the mechanisms of social interaction. The third is centered on the investigation of methods for hardware integration to build distributed networks of embedded devices that are capable of executing the newly developed algorithms, subject to power and weight constraints. The results and experience gained in this project will guide the development of effective autonomous systems for the monitoring and protection of endangered species. This project will create undergraduate and graduate research opportunities at all participating institutions, expanding on an existing collaboration between the University of Maryland, Princeton University, and the National Geographic Society. There is the potential for using wide-reaching media resources to disseminate the results of this project to a broad audience. This may contribute to attracting more students to engineering and science.