Recent research has developed sensor networks, where tiny devices with processors, memory, and wireless communication can be deployed to collaboratively sense and reason about the environment around them. Sensor nets are versatile enough to be thrown out into some outdoor environment, or can be integrated into offices and homes to create “smart buildings.” We have begun investigating the concept of Actuator Networks, where we enhance these passive sensing devices with distributed actuation, such as emitting different amplitudes and wavelengths of light or sound, to affect an environment. The general idea is to generate a “potential field” of attracting and repelling actuators.
Actuator Networks
by Jeremy Schiff
http://schiffy.com/research/ActuatorNetworks/index.html
We forsee a number of interesting theoretical and practical problems as we must not only develop new algorithms to determine the correct actuation for the desired goal in a general context, but we must also determine which modalities are most applicable for our subject to easily observe or be controlled by the potential field for our specific applications.
Emphasized Applications
Security
Examples we are currently investigating include using a pulse of sound to get a person’s attention for better facial recognition (which is currently very dependent on angle of the image) or using a bright light, unpleasant odor or annoying sound to coax people away from a region for issues of crowd control.
Natural Environments
We are experimenting with using modalitites such as light and sound to attract and scare animals in order to induce them to move to a desired location. For instance, we could actively guide birds toward a desired zone for closer viewing or herd animals animals.
Emergency Evacuation
We are exploring the use of action nets either pre-installed in “smart homes” or dynamically deployed by emergency personnel during search and rescue operations to help guide both those the search and rescue team and the trapped victims out of the building safely. In the firefighter scenario, the sensors (called motes) would sense heat and light up red or green in different amplitudes to shape a green corridor for rapid exit.