Abstract
During my sabbatical in the past winter term, I undertook a research-focused journey spanning four international collaborations, each advancing different facets of intelligent autonomous systems. In Boston, USA, I worked with Prof. Carlo Pinciroli at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) on the development of scalable software infrastructure for swarm robotics, aimed at improving the programmability of large-scale robot collectives. In Granada, Spain, I collaborated with Dr. Héctor García de Marina on the control of multi-drone systems, with a particular focus on the coordination of fixed-wing UAVs operating in decentralized settings. In Bogotá, Colombia, I joined Prof. Félix Mohr at Universidad de La Sabana to explore the use of automated machine learning (AutoML) in the analysis of electrophysiological data from natural plants, investigating plant sensing and signal propagation with ML tools. Finally, in Cape Town, South Africa, I collaborated with Prof. Geoff Nitschke at the University of Cape Town on evolutionary swarm robotics, examining how evolutionary algorithms can be used to design collective robot behaviors (e.g., shepherding). Together, these research stays broadened the scope of my work across swarm robotics, aerial systems, AI for biosignal interpretation, and evolutionary design, while reinforcing the global and interdisciplinary nature of modern swarm robotics research.
About the speaker
Since 2022 Heiko Hamann is professor for Cyber-physical Systems at the University of Konstanz, Germany, and member of the "Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour" in Konstanz. Before he was professor at the University of Luebeck and the University of Paderborn. His main research interests are swarm robotics, bio-hybrid systems, evolutionary robotics, and modeling of complex systems. He enjoys working in multi-disciplinary teams with ethologists, plant biologists, architects, and psychologists. Heiko Hamann is author of the book "Swarm Robotics: A Formal Approach" (Springer, 2018) and currently working on the 2nd edition which is expected by so many in the world. He is editor-in-chief of the Swarm Intelligence Journal since 2023.