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The intellectual focus of this project is to allow one human operator to effectively manage a large robot swarm to achieve desired global objectives. Tailored around a swarm system inspired by the cooperative thermal soaring and foraging behaviors of hawks, three sub-projects will be conducted by undergraduate students during this REU project. First, a swarm testing environment with 50 custom designed robots will be developed. Second, distributed, non-hierarchical agent-level interaction rules that will allow the emergence of desirable robot swarm behaviors will be investigated. Third, novel human-swarm interaction modes for managing a large self-organized robot swarm without using a direct command and control structure between the operator and robots will be invented and experimentally demonstrated. Through these efforts, the undergraduate students will have the opportunity to work as a team in performing both fundamental research and hands-on experiments. The successful completion of the project will enable many potential robot applications such as search and rescue, environmental monitoring and robotic mining and construction.
REU Participant Benefits: Stipend of $5,000, lodging, meal expenses, travel reimbursement and comprehensive training to move participants toward intellectual and research independence.