Controlling Smart Matter

Smart matter consists of sensors, actuators and computers embedded in physical materials. These devices can alter physical properties of the material under program control. A key issue for realizing the potential of smart matter is designing the control mechanisms. When the number of devices is large, multiagent systems can provide robust distributed control through analogies with biological ecosystems, economic markets and the scientific community.

Some publications on distributed control of smart matter:

• T. Hogg and P. J. Kuekes, Mobile Microscopic Sensors for High-Resolution in vivo Diagnostics, 2006
• T. Hogg, Coordinating Microscopic Robots in Viscous Fluids, 2006
• H. Bojinov, A. Casal and T. Hogg, Multiagent Control of Self-reconfigurable Robots, 2000
• T. Hogg and B. A. Huberman, Controlling Smart Matter, 1998

For an application of quantum computing see Quantum Smart Matter, 1996.