Analysis of P-Systems under a Multiagent Systems Perspective

Membrane computing is a recent area that belongs to natural computing. This field works on computational models based on nature's behavior to process the information. Recently, numerous models have been developed and implemented with this purpose. P-systems are the structures which have been defined, developed and implemented to simulate the behavior and the evolution of membrane systems which we find in nature. What we show in this paper is an application capable to simulate the P-systems based on a multiagent systems (MAS) technology. The main goal we want to achieve is to take advantage of the inner qualities of the multiagent systems. This way we can analyse the proper functioning of any given p-system. When we observe a P-system from a different perspective, we can be assured that it is a particular case of the multiagent systems. This opens a new possibility, in the future, to always evaluate the P-systems in terms of the multiagent systems technology

The NASA SBIR product catalog

The purpose of this catalog is to assist small business firms in making the community aware of products emerging from their efforts in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. It contains descriptions of some products that have advanced into Phase 3 and others that are identified as prospective products. Both lists of products in this catalog are based on information supplied by NASA SBIR contractors in responding to an invitation to be represented in this document. Generally, all products suggested by the small firms were included in order to meet the goals of information exchange for SBIR results. Of the 444 SBIR contractors NASA queried, 137 provided information on 219 products. The catalog presents the product information in the technology areas listed in the table of contents. Within each area, the products are listed in alphabetical order by product name and are given identifying numbers. Also included is an alphabetical listing of the companies that have products described. This listing cross-references the product list and provides information on the business activity of each firm. In addition, there are three indexes: one a list of firms by states, one that lists the products according to NASA Centers that managed the SBIR projects, and one that lists the products by the relevant Technical Topics utilized in NASA's annual program solicitation under which each SBIR project was selected

Monitoring and Information Alignment in Pursuit of an IoT-Enabled Self-Sustainable Interoperability

To remain competitive with big corporations, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often need to be more dynamic, adapt to new business situations, react faster, and thereby survive in today‘s global economy. To do so, SMEs normally seek to create consortiums, thus gaining access to new and more opportunities. However, this strategy may also lead to complications. Due to the different sources of enterprise models and semantics, organizations are experiencing difficulties in seamlessly exchanging vital information via electronic means. In their attempt to address this issue, most seek to achieve interoperability by establishing peer-to-peer mappings with different business partners, or by using neutral data standards to regulate communications in optimized networks. Moreover, systems are more and more dynamic, frequently changing to answer new customer‘s requirements, causing new interoperability problems and a reduction of efficiency. Another situation that is constantly changing is the devices used in the enterprises, as the Enterprise Information Systems, devices are used to register internal data, and to be used to monitor several aspects. These devices are constantly changing, following the evolution and growth of the market. So, it is important to monitor these devices and doing a model representation of them. This dissertation proposes a self-sustainable interoperable framework to monitor existing enterprise information systems and their devices, monitor the device/enterprise network for changes and automatically detecting model changes. With this, network harmonization disruptions are detected in a timely way, and possible solutions are suggested to regain the interoperable status, thus enhancing robustness for reaching sustainability of business networks along time

A membrane parallel rapidly-exploring random tree algorithm for robotic motion planning

© 2020-IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved. In recent years, incremental sampling-based motion planning algorithms have been widely used to solve robot motion planning problems in high-dimensional configuration spaces. In particular, the Rapidly-exploring Random Tree (RRT) algorithm and its asymptotically-optimal counterpart called RRT∗ are popular algorithms used in real-life applications due to its desirable properties. Such algorithms are inherently iterative, but certain modules such as the collision-checking procedure can be parallelized providing significant speedup with respect to sequential implementations. In this paper, the RRT and RRT∗ algorithms have been adapted to a bioinspired computational framework called Membrane Computing whose models of computation, a.k.a. P systems, run in a non-deterministic and massively parallel way. A large number of robotic applications are currently using a variant of P systems called Enzymatic Numerical P systems (ENPS) for reactive controlling, but there is a lack of solutions for motion planning in the framework. The novel models in this work have been designed using the ENPS framework. In order to test and validate the ENPS models for RRT and RRT*, we present two ad-hoc implementations able to emulate the computation of the models using OpenMP and CUDA. Finally, we show the speedup of our solutions with respect to sequential baseline implementations. The results show a speedup up to 6x using OpenMP with 8 cores against the sequential implementation and up to 24x using CUDA against the best multi-threading configuration

A generic holonic control architecture for heterogeneous multi-scale and multi-objective smart microgrids

Designing the control infrastructure of future “smart” power grids is a challenging task. Future grids will integrate a wide variety of heterogeneous producers and consumers that are unpredictable and operate at various scales. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions will have to control these in order to attain global objectives at the macrolevel, while also considering private interests at the microlevel. This article proposes a generic holonic architecture to help the development of ICT control systems that meet these requirements. We show how this architecture can integrate heterogeneous control designs, including state-of-the-art smart grid solutions. To illustrate the applicability and utility of this generic architecture, we exemplify its use via a concrete proof-of-concept implementation for a holonic controller, which integrates two types of control solutions and manages a multiscale, multiobjective grid simulator in several scenarios. We believe that the proposed contribution is essential for helping to understand, to reason about, and to develop the “smart” side of future power grids

High-Performance Integrated Window and Façade Solutions for California

The researchers developed a new generation of high-performance façade systems and supporting design and management tools to support industry in meeting California’s greenhouse gas reduction targets, reduce energy consumption, and enable an adaptable response to minimize real-time demands on the electricity grid. The project resulted in five outcomes: (1) The research team developed an R-5, 1-inch thick, triplepane, insulating glass unit with a novel low-conductance aluminum frame. This technology can help significantly reduce residential cooling and heating loads, particularly during the evening. (2) The team developed a prototype of a windowintegrated local ventilation and energy recovery device that provides clean, dry fresh air through the façade with minimal energy requirements. (3) A daylight-redirecting louver system was prototyped to redirect sunlight 15–40 feet from the window. Simulations estimated that lighting energy use could be reduced by 35–54 percent without glare. (4) A control system incorporating physics-based equations and a mathematical solver was prototyped and field tested to demonstrate feasibility. Simulations estimated that total electricity costs could be reduced by 9-28 percent on sunny summer days through adaptive control of operable shading and daylighting components and the thermostat compared to state-of-the-art automatic façade controls in commercial building perimeter zones. (5) Supporting models and tools needed by industry for technology R&D and market transformation activities were validated. Attaining California’s clean energy goals require making a fundamental shift from today’s ad-hoc assemblages of static components to turnkey, intelligent, responsive, integrated building façade systems. These systems offered significant reductions in energy use, peak demand, and operating cost in California