Locomotion Systems Science Workshop in Arlington, VA

为期三天的“运动系统科学研讨会”将于5月在弗吉尼亚州阿灵顿举行，由NSF和ARO共同资助，将包括生物学、物理学、工程学、化学、计算机科学和数学方面的不同思想家，目的是提出一个可操作的问题：为什么在典型的陆地环境中，动物比机器移动得更好？其中一个主题将致力于这个问题：活的运动系统是如何从无生命的部件中出现的，是否有一门“运动系统科学”可以描述这种出现？会议将包括一系列会议，其中混合了不同的问题制定模式和问题类别。与会者将讨论：1)基本极限--试图确定一个动物的极限进化选择了一个动物的工作点有多接近，以及为什么，可以帮助解释类似的工程学上的权衡，既简单化地关注部件的最优化，又通过更好地协调现有部件来实现对模块化的综合强调。2)多尺度模型--比较和评估用于多尺度建模和分析的形式化。3)比较方法--比较生物、物理、数学、计算机科学等学科的传统探究方法，并相互联系起来。这些会议将集中在系统、环境、电力和信息等主题上。与我们的会议对我们开发高效机器的能力产生了影响，这些机器使用动物使用的基本运动原理。

The three-day "Locomotion Systems Science Workshop" to be held in May, in Arlington, VA, co-funded by NSF and ARO, will include a diversity of thinkers in biology, physics, engineering, chemistry, computer science, and mathematics, for the purpose of asking an actionable version of the question: why do animals move better than machines in typical terrestrial environments? One of the themes will be devoted to the question: how do living locomotion systems emerge from nonliving components and is there a "locomotion systems science" that can describe such emergence? The meeting will include a series of sessions that mix different modes of problem formulation and categories of problem. The participants will discuss: 1) Fundamental limits-- attempting to pin down how close to a limit evolution has selected an animal's operating point, and why, can help illuminate the analogous engineering tradeoffs between reductive focus on optimality of components and integrative emphasis on modularity achieved through better coordination of existing parts. 2) Multi-scale models-- compare and assess formalisms for multiple scale modeling and analysis. 3) Comparative Methods -- compare and interrelate traditional methods of inquiry in disciplines like biology, physics, mathematics, computer science. These will be focused on themes including Systems, Environment, Power and Information. The meeting with have an impact on our ability to develop efficient machines that use the basic motion principles that animals use.