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--- teaching:mfe:ia [2012/03/21 16:05]
mdorigo Edited projects in swarm robotics 2012-2012
+++ teaching:mfe:ia [2012/03/23 09:34]
stuetzle
@@ Line 127: / Line 127: @@
   * Contacts :
     * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~mdorigo|Marco Dorigo (IRIDIA)]]
-    * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~stuetzle|Thomas Stuetzle (IRIDIA)]]
+    * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~stuetzle|Thomas Stützle (IRIDIA)]]
     * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~mbiro|Mauro Birattari (IRIDIA)]]
     * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~manuel|Manuel López-Ibáñez (IRIDIA)]]
@@ Line 142: / Line 142: @@
   * Contacts :
     * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~mdorigo|Marco Dorigo (IRIDIA)]]
-    * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~stuetzle|Thomas Stuetzle (IRIDIA)]]
+    * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~stuetzle|Thomas Stützle (IRIDIA)]]
     * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~mbiro|Mauro Birattari (IRIDIA)]]
     * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~manuel|Manuel López-Ibáñez (IRIDIA)]]
@@ Line 158: / Line 158: @@
   * Contacts :
-    * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~stuetzle|Thomas Stuetzle (IRIDIA)]]
+    * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~stuetzle|Thomas Stützle (IRIDIA)]]
     * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~manuel|Manuel López-Ibáñez (IRIDIA)]]
+===== Design of a graphical interface for an automatic configuration tool. =====
+Optimization algorithms have a number of parameters that strongly
+affect their efficiency. For many years the setting of these
+parameters was done by hand; a tedious task that requires a lot of
+human involvement. Nowadays, some tools are available to automatize this task by considering the setting of the parameters as a "meta"-optimization problem. One of these tools for automatic configuration (the irace package: http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/irace) has been developed at IRIDIA, and has been already applied successfully to many algorithms. The goal of this project is to design a graphical interface on top of the existing software, to help the user to set-up his particular tuning problem, to visualize information about the tuning process while it is on-going and when it has completed, and to integrate statistical tools for the analysis of the tuner results.
+The student will have to implement a Graphical front-end on top of the
+existing software implemented in R, using a cross-platform library
+such as Qt (http://qtinterfaces.r-forge.r-project.org/).  Some
+additions to the original software may be required, and the student
+will have to work in collaboration with the team of developers of
+irace at IRIDIA.
+  * Contacts :
+    * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~stuetzle|Thomas Stützle (IRIDIA)]]
+    * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~mbiro|Mauro Birattari (IRIDIA)]]
+    * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~manuel|Manuel López-Ibáñez (IRIDIA)]]
+    * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~jdubois|Jérémie Dubois-Lacoste (IRIDIA)]]
@@ Line 174: / Line 196: @@
   * Contacts :
-    * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~stuetzle|Thomas Stuetzle (IRIDIA)]]
+    * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~stuetzle|Thomas Stützle (IRIDIA)]]
     * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~fmascia|Franco Mascia (IRIDIA)]]
@@ Line 190: / Line 212: @@
   * Contacts :
-    * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~stuetzle|Thomas Stuetzle (IRIDIA)]]
+    * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~stuetzle|Thomas Stützle (IRIDIA)]]
     * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~fmascia|Franco Mascia (IRIDIA)]]
+===== Analysis of Local Optima Networks for the Max-Clique problem. ======
+Stochastic Local Search algorithms search for optimal solutions in a large space of candidate solutions. Local Optima Networks (LON) are representations of search landscapes of combinatorial optimisation problems. In these networks, nodes are local optima of the problem, and edges are weighted transitions between the optima. These networks model in a more compact way the properties of the larger search spaces they represent.
+The goal of this project is to build LON of small instances of the Maximum Clique (MC) problem, and measure properties that could illustrate the differences between instance families.
+The MC problem is an NP-hard combinatorial optimisation problem that asks to find the biggest completely connected component of a graph. It has relevant applications in information retrieval, computer vision, social network analysis, computational biochemistry, bioinformatics and genomics.
+Required skills: good knowledge of C or C++ programming.
+  * Contacts :
+    * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~stuetzle|Thomas Stützle (IRIDIA)]]
+    * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~fmascia|Franco Mascia (IRIDIA)]]
@@ Line 200: / Line 240: @@
 checking to formally verify properties of a collective behavior of a
 robot swarm. Verifying that a system behaves as desired in all
-possible situations is necessary when  autonomous robots are involved.
+possible situations is necessary when autonomous robots are involved.
 This is particularly true in swarm robotics systems, where the
 interactions of large number of individuals can result in behaviors
@@ Line 208: / Line 248: @@
 computationally impossible to analyze.
-The goal of this thesis is to apply a novel model checking technique,
+This thesis is will explore the application of a novel model checking technique, called statistical model checking, to formally verify a swarm robotics system. A collective behavior will be firstly implemented in
-called statistical model checking, to formally verify a swarm robotics
-system. A collective behavior will be firstly implemented in
 simulation and then analyzed through statistical model checking.
@@ Line 240: / Line 278: @@
 programming, have a good knowledge of formal specification and UML,
 and have a working knowledge of the English language.
+  * Contacts : [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~mbiro|Mauro Birattari]] and Manuele Brambilla (IRIDIA)
+===== A GUI for debugging the behavior of a robot swarm =====
+Debugging a robot swarm is a complex and difficult task.
+The desired behavior of the swarm is the result of the complex
+non-linear interactions of tens or hundreds of robots. When
+implementing a swarm robotics system, very often it is necessary to
+analyze individually the output of the execution of each robot, a very
+long and boring process. Since the goal of the developer is to obtain
+a specific collective behavior, it would be better to debug the system
+at the collective level and, only if necessary, at the individual
+level.
+In this thesis we will analyze a possible way to debug the collective
+behavior of a swarm of robots, using macroscopic and microscopic
+modeling. The goal is to develop a GUI that shows the state of the
+collective behavior of the system, and if the user requires it, the
+state of a single robot. We will start with a version of the debugging
+GUI that interface with the ARGoS simulator and eventually one that
+interfaces with the real robots.
+Required skills: the candidates should be acquainted with C/C++
+programming, GUI programming (QT/C++ or QT/Python or Java) and have a
+working knowledge of the English language.
   * Contacts : [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~mbiro|Mauro Birattari]] and Manuele Brambilla (IRIDIA)
@@ Line 281: / Line 347: @@
 ===== Self-organized visual coverage in a swarm of robots =====
-Systems composed of several inter-connected cameras are already a reality in
+Systems composed of several inter-connected cameras are already a reality in our everyday lives. The prime application of such systems is video-surveillance, but the possibilities offered by multiple-camera systems can extend to other interesting scenarios, such as environment mapping, 3D shape-reconstruction and object recognition. In all these scenarios, the problem of finding the right
-our everyday lives. The prime application of such systems is video-surveillance,
+position of a set of cameras in order to maximize the visual field, or the amount of information available, is not always a simple one. Furthermore, systems consisting of cameras in a fixed position present obvious issues of robustness and flexibility.
-but the possibilities oered from multiple-camera systems can extend to other
+Multi-robots systems can provide an interesting mean to overcome this issues. Robots navigating in the enviroment can change their position as a result of changes in the enviroment or in the overall system's objective. A centralized control solution for these systems is still not a desirable one, as it introduces a single point of failure and it can suffer from performance issues.
-interesting objectives, such as environment mapping, 3D shape-reconstruction
+The Swarm Robotics paradigm offers a valid approach to the design of a multiple camera system. In this project, we want to study the possibility to develop a control strategy that enables a swarm of robots to position themselves into an unknown environment, maximizing the area covered by their visual fields, while relying only on their image processing system and on local communication.
-and object recognition. In all these scenarios, the problem of nding the right
-position of a set of cameras in order to maximize the visual eld, or the amount
-of information available, is not always a simple one. Furthermore, systems
-consisting of cameras in a xed position present obvious issues of robustness
-and exibility.
-Multi-robots systems can provide an interesting mean to overcome this is-
-sues. Robots navigating in the enviroment can change their position as a result
-of changes in the enviroment or in the overall system's objective. A centralized
-control solution for these systems is still not a desirable one, as it introduces a
-single point of failure and it can suer from performance issues.
-The Swarm Robotics paradigm oers a valid approach to the design of a mul-
-tiple camera system. In this project, we want to study the possibility to develop
-a control strategy that enables a swarm of robots to position themselves into an
-unknown environment, maximizing the area covered by their visual elds, while
-relying only on their image processing system and on local communication.
-Requirements: The candidates should be acquainted with C/C++ programming and have a
+Required skills: The candidate should be acquainted with C/C++ programming and have a
 working knowledge of the English language.
@@ Line 440: / Line 491: @@
   * Contacts :
     * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~manuel|Manuel López-Ibáñez (IRIDIA)]]
-    * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~stuetzle|Thomas Stuetzle (IRIDIA)]]
+    * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~stuetzle|Thomas Stützle (IRIDIA)]]
@@ Line 449: / Line 500: @@
   * Contacts :
     * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~manuel|Manuel López-Ibáñez (IRIDIA)]]
-    * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~stuetzle|Thomas Stuetzle (IRIDIA)]]
+    * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~stuetzle|Thomas Stützle (IRIDIA)]]
     * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~mdorigo|Marco Dorigo (IRIDIA)]]
@@ Line 459: / Line 510: @@
   * Contacts :
     * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~manuel|Manuel López-Ibáñez (IRIDIA)]]
-    * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~stuetzle|Thomas Stuetzle (IRIDIA)]]
+    * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~stuetzle|Thomas Stützle (IRIDIA)]]
@@ Line 468: / Line 519: @@
   * Contacts :
     * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~manuel|Manuel López-Ibáñez (IRIDIA)]]
-    * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~stuetzle|Thomas Stuetzle (IRIDIA)]]
+    * [[http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~stuetzle|Thomas Stützle (IRIDIA)]]