Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

My research program is concerned with the ""computational"" aspects of working in a system of autonomous mobile entities. The entities could be software agents moving on the net, or robots moving on a terrain. We want the entities to be identical, simple, ""disposable"", so we can create them inexpensively and easily replace damaged or ""lost"" ones. At the same time we want them to be able, collectively, to solve complex tasks. In other words, the capabilities lie within the ""team"". The computational concerns are correctness and efficiency; that is, question like: what problems can be solved ? under what conditions ? at what cost ? This project focuses on problems and issues that arise in these environments; they range from locating black holes (harmful hosts that destroys incoming agents), to decontaminating a network being infected by a mobile intruder (e.g. a virus), from gathering autonomous mobile vehicles (e.g., tanks) dispersed on a terrain, to scattering mobile sensors on a terrain so to obtain a uniformly coverage of the space (e.g., for surveillance). In spite of the differences, the same fundamental principles occur in all these contexts. Their study is the primary goal of this project.