Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Swarming Micro Air Vehicle Networks (SMAVNET)
Networks created by swarming micro air vehicles (SMAV) are under study at the US Army Research Lab's Micro Autonomous Science and Technology (MAST) center.
The Army's MAST center has been funded for five years with an option for five more. The following four partners are contributing research; the University of Maryland, the University of Michigan, the University of Pennsylvania and BAE Systems.
The MAST partners would do well to take a look at the SMAVNET project (Swarming Micro Air Vehicle Networks for Communication Relay) at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland.
"A networked swarm can co-ordinate through sensing, communication and mobility to form a virtual "super-organism" composed of a number of flying...vehicles that can penetrate any structure and find targets of interest," says the chairman of Maryland's aerospace engineering department and professor Darryll Pines.
(Swarm of micro air vehicles create a network (SMAVNET)
Their system makes use of minimum cost MAVs which rely on local communication with immediate neighbors and proprioceptive sensors which provide heading, speed, altitude and angular velocities.
(SMAVNET deployment)
We consider two approaches in designing the swarm behavior of the SMAVNET. The first consists in using artificial evolution to automatically design controllers. Resulting swarm controllers are then analyzed and rule sets are extracted to serve as a basis for hand designing swarming in the future. The second approach consists in taking inspiration from army ants, which are capable of optimally deploying to search for and maintain pheromone paths leading to food sources in nature.
The earliest reference to this idea that I know about appeared in Changeling, a 1980 story by Roger Zelazny. In the story, solar-powered tracer birds formed a surveillance network.
The prototype blue-bellied, gray-backed tracer-bird with the wide-angle eye and the parabola ear followed the dragon-riders north. A series of the larger fliers followed it at well-spaced intervals, to serve as relay points for the spy broadcasts...The dark birdforms dotted the mountaintops like statues of prehistoric beasts, wings outspread...
(Read more about tracer birds)
Read a bit more at US Army funds center for swarming MAV technologies, Autonomous UAV Surveillance Swarm and The SMAVNET project.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 4/20/2008)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 2 )
Related News Stories - (" Surveillance ")
Goodness Gracious Me! Google Tries Face Recognition Security
'The actuating mechanism that should have operated by the imprint of her image on the telephoto cell...' - Schachner and Zagat, 1931.
Live Stream With Meta-Ban Multimodal Smart Glasses
'...the bug-eyed, opaque gape of her True-Vu lenses.' - David Brin, 1990.
Brin's 1990 Novel Earth Still Full Of Predictions
'... making the point that their likenesses, every move they made, were being transmitted.' - David Brin, 1990.
Amazon One Is Frank Herbert's Palm Lock
'A palm lock must be keyed to one individual's hand shape and palm lines.' - Frank Herbert, 1965.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Cognify - A Prison Of The Mind We've Seen Before In SF
'So I serve a hundred years in one day...'
Robot With Human Brain Organoid - 'A Thrilling Story Of Mechanistic Progress'
'A human brain snugly encased in a transparent skull-shaped receptacle.'
Goodness Gracious Me! Google Tries Face Recognition Security
'The actuating mechanism that should have operated by the imprint of her image on the telephoto cell...'
With Mycotecture, We'll Just Grow The Space Habitats We Need
'The only real cost was in the plastic balloon that guided the growth of the coral and enclosed the coral's special air-borne food.'
Can A Swarm Of Deadly Drones Take Out An Aircraft Carrier?
'The border was defended by... a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats.'
WiFi and AI Team Up To See Through Walls
'The pitiless M rays pierced Earth and steel and densest concrete as if they were so much transparent glass...'
Climate Engineering In California Could Make Europe's Heat Waves Worse
'Pina2bo would have to operate full blast for many years to put as much SO2 into the stratosphere as its namesake had done in a few minutes.'
Optimus Robot Will Be A Good Nanny, Says Musk
'Nanny is different,' Tom Fields murmured... 'she's not like a machine. She's like a person.'
ESA To Build Moon Bases Brick By Printed LEGO Brick
'We made a crude , small cell and were delighted - and, I admit, somewhat surprised - to find it worked.'
Does The Shortage Of Human Inputs Limit AI Development?
'...we've promised him a generous pension from the royalties.'
Textiles That Harvest Energy And Store It
'The clothes and jewelery drew their tiny power requirements from her movements.'
LORIS Passive-Gripper Climbing Robot
'At the end of each appendage's eight fingers there are tinier appendages...'
Neuroplatform Human Brain Organoid Bioprocessor Uses Less Electricity
'Cultured brains on a slab.'
Drug To Regenerate Teeth In Humans
'We want to do something to help those who are suffering from tooth loss or absence,' said lead researcher Katsu Takahashi.
Coin-Sized Nuclear Battery Good For 100 Years
'...power pack the size of a pea.'
Live Stream With Meta-Ban Multimodal Smart Glasses
'...the bug-eyed, opaque gape of her True-Vu lenses.'
