Autonomous Nano Technology Swarm Research Articles

Experiences applying formal approaches in the development of swarm-based space exploration systems

NASA is researching advanced technologies for future exploration missions using intelligent swarms of robotic vehicles. One of these missions is the Autonomous Nano-Technology Swarm (ANTS) mission that will explore the asteroid belt using 1,000 cooperative autonomous spacecraft. The emergent properties of intelligent swarms make it a potentially powerful concept, but at the same time more difficult to design and ensure that the proper behaviors will emerge. NASA is investigating formal methods and techniques for verification of such missions. The advantage of using formal methods is the ability to mathematically verify the behavior of a swarm, emergent or otherwise. Using the ANTS mission as a case study, we have evaluated multiple formal methods to determine their effectiveness in modeling and ensuring desired swarm behavior. This paper discusses the results of this evaluation and proposes an integrated formal method for ensuring correct behavior of future NASA intelligent swarms.

NASA's swarm missions: the challenge of building autonomous software

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) introduces its new millenium mission class. Motivated by the need to gather more data than is possible with a single spacecraft, scientists have developed a new class of missions based on the efficiency and cooperative nature of a hive culture. The missions, aptly dubbed nanoswarm is a little more than mechanized colonies cooperating in their exploration of the solar system. Each swarm mission can have hundreds or even thousands of cooperating intelligent spacecraft that work in teams. One swarm mission under concept development for 2020 to 2030 is the autonomous nano technology swarm (ANTS). For software and systems development, this is uncharted territory that calls for revolutionary techniques.

ANTS in space?

Inspired by the accomplishments of social insects, and perhaps disappointed by the failures of conventional robots, NASA is planning to send a swarm of miniature spacecraft to explore the Asteroid Belt. The collective intelligence of the swarm – to be composed of hundreds of tiny, independent spacecraft called ANTS (‘Autonomous Nano Technology Swarm’) – will be based on that of earthbound species, such as ants and wasps. After traveling to the Asteroid Belt, the ANTS will assume different roles: some will act as rulers, others as messengers, but most will be workers. Each worker will carry a single instrument, such as a magnetometer or a gamma-ray sensor, and will perform a single specified task. The collective nature of the swarm is supposed to make the system robust: the loss of a few spacecraft will not cripple the mission. By performing their tasks individually but later swapping knowledge, the ANTS will behave as a single, extended organism, more intelligent that the sum of its parts. Perhaps the real challenge is whether the same be said of the NASA research group… MW