NSF Convergence Accelerator Track M: Slime Mold Inspired Self-Assembling Conveyor System for Flood Response

NSF 融合加速器轨道 M：受粘菌启发的用于洪水响应的自组装输送系统

• 批准号: 2344289
• 负责人: Petras Swissler
• 金额: $ 65万
• 依托单位: New Jersey Institute of Technology
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-01-15 至 2024-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2344289&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; Convergence; Accelerator; Track; Slime

This convergent research project will develop an innovative slime-mold inspired robotic system designed to autonomously construct a floating conveyor network that will transport pallets of goods in flooded urban environments. The primary goal of this project is to address the escalating threat of flooding in the New York City area. This flooding has been exacerbated by climate change and currently results in over one hundred million dollars in damages annually. Despite the significant economic and societal impact of these events, existing technologies lack effective tools for responsive action. The proposed robotic system has the potential to revolutionize flood response, empowering rescue workers to operate more efficiently, saving lives and safeguarding critical infrastructure.The researchers draw inspiration from slime molds, which often form nutrient-transport networks over bodies of water. These organisms offer a compelling behavioral model for goods delivery in flooded regions. The researchers will leverage their insights from previous research to craft a bio-inspired robot algorithm that will enable hundreds of robot “tiles” to re-arrange themselves to form a conveyor system capable of transporting palletized goods in flooded areas. This work will involve first distilling the algorithmic underpinnings of the slime mold behavior and translating these behaviors into swarm robot algorithms for adaptive transport network growth. The researchers will also develop and build robots capable of executing this algorithm and of transporting goods and will demonstrate algorithm behaviors using a small swarm of robot prototypes. Finally, the researchers will investigate how to best integrate this robotic system into existing disaster relief workflows through a series of focus groups and user studies. The overall deliverable of this project will be a full-stack realization of a user-focused robotic self-assembling system that operates based on network growth principles observed in nature.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这个收敛的研究项目将开发一个创新的粘液启发的机器人系统，旨在自主构建浮动传送带网络，该网络将在被淹没的城市环境中运送货物托盘。该项目的主要目的是解决纽约市地区洪水泛滥的威胁。气候变化加剧了这种洪水，目前每年造成超过1亿美元的损害赔偿。尽管这些事件对经济和社会产生了重大的影响，但现有技术缺乏有效的响应行动工具。拟议的机器人系统有可能彻底改变洪水反应，使救援人员能够更有效地运作，挽救生命并保护关键的基础设施。研究人员从史莱姆模具中汲取灵感，这些史莱姆模具通常在水体上形成营养型传播网络。这些生物为洪水泛滥地区的商品交付提供了令人信服的行为模型。研究人员将利用以前的研究的见解来制作一种受生物启发的机器人算法，该算法将使数百个机器人“瓷砖”重新排列自己，以形成能够在被洪水泛滥地区运输托盘商品的传送带系统。这项工作将首先提炼粘液模具行为的算法基础，并将这些行为转化为群体机器人算法以进行自适应运输网络的增长。研究人员还将开发和制造能够执行该算法和运输商品的机器人，并将使用一小群机器人原型展示算法行为。最后，研究人员将研究如何通过一系列焦点小组和用户研究将机器人系统最好地整合到现有的救灾工作流程中。该项目的整体交付将是对用户以用户为中心的机器人自组装系统的全面实现，该系统根据自然界观察到的网络增长原则运作。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响标准通过评估来诚实地诚实地支持支持。