Physiology of microsystems

摘要

The US Army Research Laboratory has assembled a Collaborative Technology Alliance (CTA) for the development of Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST). It is envisioned that an ensemble of microsystems with autonomous behavior will improve situational awareness for a wide range of small unit operations, especially in urban environments. Due to the breadth of missions and scale of the systems, the MAST program has a profound need to pursue microsystem designs that simultaneously optimize multifunctionality, robustness, adaptability as well as affordability. Our inspiration comes from animal physiology, which contains many examples of components that support multiple functions and capabilities in a highly integrated, efficient fashion. Here we outline our approach for designing both individual microsystems and a system of microsystems based on inspiration from biology.