Workshop focuses on needs of autonomous agent networks

On January 21, thirty-six invited participants from the university, government agencies, and corporate partners attended the Collaborative Autonomy Infrastructure Workshop, held at the Brendan Iribe Center for Computer Science and Engineering on campus.

Networks of multiple autonomous agents could be valuable in tasks like search and rescue missions. These agents would work collaboratively to accomplish the mission, and would need to coordinate their behaviors with each other. An infrastructure is needed to support development and testing of the enabling algorithms these agents would use in such situations; the workshop addressed the needs of this infrastructure.

Workshop participants generated requirements for potential users, including academic researchers, system developers, and autonomous system programs. They also identified technologies and concepts that could satisfy requirements for simulation models, development tools, data analysis and test procedures. Follow-up activities post-workshop will focus on identifying opportunities and partnerships to develop and build key components of the infrastructure.

The workshop was supported by the Maryland Catalyst Fund, the A. James Clark School of Engineering, the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (CMNS), and the Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security (ARLIS). Professor Jeffrey Herrmann (ME/ISR), ISR-affiliated Professor Adam Porter (CS), and ISR-affiliated Craig Lawrence (Deputy Director for Systems Research at ARLIS) organized the workshop, with assistance from ISR-affiliated Professor Dinesh Manocha (CS) and Professor Pratap Tokekar (CS).

For more information, please contact any of the workshop organizers.

Published February 4, 2020