EAGER: Towards Multicellular Robotic Organisms: Exploring Physical Form, Behavior, and Environmental Response

This EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) award supports research to explore novel system architecture designs and agent-level rules to discover beneficial emergent behaviors of multicellular robots, leading to a more natural, adaptive, and resilient robotic system. This project aims to answer three research questions: 1) What conditions foster the spontaneous emergence of complex behaviors in a multicellular robot? 2) How can these emergent behaviors be used for practical purposes? 3) Do self-organized solutions offer greater adaptability and resilience than programmed behaviors in novel situations? Physical experiments will be performed to discover emergent behaviors, gain insights, and evaluate the platform's adaptability and resilience, comparing spontaneous behaviors with a centralized control approach in unforeseen environments. As an early-stage investigation, it aims to enhance the cognitive ability of multicellular robots. The widespread use of robots in everyday environments is limited by their fragility when confronted with unexpected situations. This project aims to create multicellular robotic organisms with problem-solving abilities that emerge from the interactions of simple, identical, and interconnected components operating in a decentralized manner. A ring of robotic "cells" will serve as a primitive multicellular testbed. These cells will attempt to mark the shape and boundary of a "contaminated area" using their bodies without direct programming. Instead, this capability will emerge spontaneously through local interactions among the cells under human guidance. The robotic platform will also be used as an educational tool to promote research, STEAM education, and outreach activities in the Appalachian region. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.