9 luglio 2009 ore 10.30

Dipartimento di Ingegneria Elettrica ed Elettronica
Cagliari, Via Castelfidardo - Padiglione A aula Mocci

SEMINARI DI BIOINGEGNERIA

Prof. Hugues Bersini , IRIDIA, Université Libre de Bruxelles
Title: The “new” science of networks
Abstract:
In this talk, I will comment on these last years enthusiasm for the apparently new science of networks, popularized by large audience books such as Barabasi’s “Linked” or Watts “Six degrees”. I will first sketch the 20 years of research in IRIDIA dedicated to neural networks, chemical reaction networks, immune and social networks, which make us more cautious regarding the new lessons to be addressed to biology or sociology. Although the far from random topology and the structural plasticity of networks emphasized in these books are of definitive importance, it is the beginning and not the end of the story. It is as much important to connect the dynamics (how the nodes evolve in time) with the structural changes (how new nodes enter and leave from the networks, how their connections can also change modifying the current dynamics). It is equally important to better understand, beyond the presence of hubs in the network, the role played by the topology of these networks in terms of “integrative functions”, robustness, communication among the nodes, memory of external impact. Some biological and sociological simulations will be shown and commented and what natural sciences can gain from such simulations critically analyzed.


Prof. Marco Dorigo, IRIDIA, Université Libre de Bruxelles
Title: Swarms of Cooperating Robots
Abstract:
Swarm intelligence is the discipline that deals with natural and artificial systems composed of many individuals that coordinate using decentralized control and self-organization. In particular, it focuses on the collective behaviors that result from the local interactions of the individuals with each other and with their environment. The characterizing property of a swarm intelligence system is its ability to act in a coordinated way without the presence of a coordinator or of an external controller. Swarm robotics could be defined as the application of swarm intelligence principles to the control of groups of robots. In this talk I will discuss results of Swarm-bots, an experiment in swarm robotics. A swarm-bot is an artifact composed of a swarm of assembled s-bots. The s-bots are mobile robots capable of connecting to, and disconnecting from, other s-bots. In the swarm-bot form, the s-bots are attached to each other and, when needed, become a single robotic system that can move and change its shape.S-bots have relatively simple sensors and motors and limited computational capabilities. A swarm-bot can solve problems that cannot be solved by s-bots alone.In the talk, I will shortly describe the s-bots hardware and the methodology we followed to develop algorithms for their control. Then I will focus on the capabilities of the swarm-bot robotic system by showing video recordings of some of the many experiments we performed to study coordinated movement, path formation, self-assembly, collective transport, shape formation, and other collective behaviors. I will conclude presenting initial results of the Swarmanoid experiment, an extension of swarm-bot to 3-dimensional environments.