Keynote Speakers
We examine problems that arise in dynamic network structures such as
Peer-to-Peer and mobile ad hoc networks that are characterized by their
extreme dynamism and large scale. In such systems, traditional
techniques often prove inadequate towards providing simple solutions for
their deployment, configuration and management. What is desirable is
that these systems be self-configuring, self-monitoring, self-adapting,
self-tuning, self-healing, and in general, self-managing. In this talk,
I will put forth self-organization as a fundamental abstraction for
achieving self-* properties in a bottom-up fashion without having to
program them explicitly. I will support this view by illustrating
completely decentralized, extremely robust and scalable solutions for
important problems that draw inspiration from nature and that are based
on a gossiping interaction model.
About Ozalp Babaoglu:
Ozalp Babaoglu is Professor of Computer Science at the University of
Bologna, Italy. He received a Ph.D. in 1981 from the University of
California at Berkeley where he was a principal architect of BSD Unix.
He is the recipient of 1982 Sakrison Memorial Award, 1989 UNIX
International Recognition Award and 1993 USENIX Association Lifetime
Achievement Award for his contributions to the UNIX system community and
to Open Industry Standards. Before moving to Bologna in 1988, Babaoglu
was an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at
Cornell University. He is an ACM Fellow, a resident fellow of the
Institute of Advanced Studies at the University of Bologna and serves on
the editorial boards for ACM Transactions on Computer Systems, ACM
Transactions on Autonomous and Adaptive Systems and Springer-Verlag
Distributed Computing.
Daniela Rus (MIT) : Programmable Matter with Self-reconfiguring Robots
Programmable matter aims to bring machines and materials closer
together. We wish to create smart materials whose properties can be
programmed, or, alternatively, machines that look and feel more like
materials. Programmable matter will be achieved when we will have the
ability to create objects whose physical properties, for example
shape, stiffness, optical characteristics, acoustic characteristics,
and viscosity can be programmed. We are working toward creating
materials with embedded sensing, actuation, communication,
computation, and connection, which we call SAC^3 materials. We are
developing two concepts: smart SAC^3 sheets that self-fold into
origami shapes, and smart SAC^3 pebbles that self-sculpt into
desired objects. This work is at the intersection of theory,
algorithms, device design, and control.
This talk will survey the history of programmable matter. We start by
discussing robotic self-reconfiguration whose aim is to create modular
robots capable of changing shape: hundreds of small modules
autonomously organize and reorganize as geometric structures to best
fit the terrain on which the robot has to move, the shape of the
object the robot has to manipulate, or the sensing needs of the given
task. Self-reconfiguration leads to versatile robots that can support
multiple modalities of locomotion, manipulation, and perception. We
will discuss a spectrum of mechanical and computational capabilities
for such systems and detail some recent self-reconfiguring robots. We
then discuss programmable matter by smart sheets and smart
pebbles. Finally, we discuss the theoretical and systems challenges for
realizing the full potential of programmable matter.
About Daniela Rus:
Daniela Rus is a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer
Science, where she is associate director of MIT's Computer Science and
Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) and co-directs the MIT Center for
Robotics at CSAIL. Her research interests include distributed
robotics and mobile computing and her application focus includes
transportation, security, environmental modeling and monitoring,
underwater exploration, and agriculture.
Rus is notable for spear-heading research in programmable matter by
developing the several self-configuring robots. In addition, she
worked with her students to has designed, control, and field
autonomous underwater robots, agricultural robots that herd cattle,
low-cost, early warning sensors for disaster prevention in developing
countries, and teams of autonomour aerial vehicles that can monitor
adaptively large environments.
Rus is the recipient of the NSF Career Award and an Alfred P. Sloan
Foundation Fellow. She is a Class of 2002 MacArthur Fellow and a
fellow of AAAI and IEEE. Before receiving her appointment at MIT,
Rus was a professor in the Computer Science Department at Dartmouth,
where she founded and directed two laboratories in robotics and mobile
computing.
Rus earned her PhD in Computer Science from Cornell University.
last modified: 2010/02/24
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