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显示出各种合作策略和集体行为，以及对其环境的良好适应，因为个人通过不同的交流渠道相互感知和感知环境。这些系统运行的空间和时间尺度范围广泛，促使多学科研究了解它们的特殊特征并对其进行建模。在进化的时间尺度上，所有的有机体从非常简单到复杂，通过允许它们在环境中导航的行为来适应环境。研究生物系统运动的机制以了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，试图采用相同的解决方案，这些解决方案通常具有健壮性、适应性和可扩展性，以适应各种场景。在这项研究的背景下，千足虫和蜈蚣的物理和力学被用来阐述机器人装置的数学模型，目标是以下主要特征：(1)自主操作；(2)在不同环境中导航的能力；(3)感知环境属性的能力，例如衬底的硬度和密度。千足虫和蜈蚣拥有细长而灵活的身体，靠与环境接触的腿的分布来维持。腿的冗余性确保了持续的接触，从而确保了在不平坦的地形中移动的能力。此外，车身的灵活性允许相对于衬底的形状变形，便于导航。 这组特征在自主协商未知的非结构化环境的机器人设备中是可取的。在我的研究小组最近的工作中，基于这些特性的数学模型已经推导出来，并在模拟中进行了演示，第一代原型目前正在制造中。在这些前提的基础上，我建议将理论结果扩展到这些设备的联网系统的研究中，在该系统中，它们中的几个相互耦合(例如通过通过共同的衬底传输的机械动作)，并利用从合作中产生的群体的多任务和集体能力。我设想将该系统定制为不同的重要应用，例如实时血管生成，其中设备的微型版本持续监测关键区域心血管组织的健康状态，并在检测到危急情况时诱导组织修复；针对特定功能的药物输送，并使用生理数据作为反馈来评估有效性并适应动态条件；以及具有实时干预和灾害预防的环境监测。

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.