ABSTRACT
Distributed intelligence in autonomous systems aims to achieve communication, sensing, processing, and control through strategic collaboration among multiple agents. Achieving collective performance by individual agents with limited hardware capabilities faces several technical challenges, such as difficulties in establishing reliable communication among the agents and realizing decentralized control. In this talk, I will present distributed communication and localization algorithms for homogeneous multi-agent systems and two research projects utilizing these algorithms. The first project focuses on developing and clinically evaluating tangible serious games, called TAG-Games. TAG-Games were designed for automated cognitive assessment and training for young children, patients with cognitive problems, and older adults with age-related cognitive declines. TAG-Games employ a set of Sensor-Integrated Geometric Blocks (SIG-Blocks), which are viewed as autonomous agents, for a variety of tangible games, including Block Assembly, Shape Matching, Shape Memory, and Music Blocks. The second project aims to develop algorithms and hardware platforms for robotic swarm intelligence. InchBots, a swarm microrobotic platform, and associated algorithms for demonstrating collective task performance, such as dispersion and line formation, will be presented. A few other ongoing projects, including OrigamiBots and Philos – a social robot, will also be introduced.