Hybrid Problems in Smart Matter Control
Warren B. Jackson, Markus P.J. Fromherz, Andrew A. Berlin, David K. Biegelsen, and Patrick Cheung
Abstract
The remarkable increase in computer capabilities per unit price has
led to an explosion of computer appli-cations in processing
information. Similarly, the significant increase in sensor and
actuator capabilities per unit price now under way combined with the
aforementioned computer advances will enable a rapid increase in the
number of control systems, i.e., systems that can sense and manipulate
their environment. Many of the machines of the industrial age can be
rearchitected using a multitude of sensors, actuators, and control
systems if the requisite component prices are sufficiently low. In
particular, the number of controllers can be sufficiently large that
the statistical properties of the ensemble dominate over specific
details of individual elements. Such systems have become known as
smart matter. Unlike traditional matter, the components are capable of
complex continuous and discrete actions. Such changes in capabil-ity
will require control algorithms capable of operating a multitude of
interconnected discrete and con-tinuous sensors, actuators, and
control systems in a robust and adaptable manner. In this paper, some
of the challenges associated with creating such hybrid control systems
for large numbers of components will be discussed along with some of
our initial work in this area.
PDF file
Back to the top.