Title: Decentralized brain in low data-rate, low power networks for collaborative manoeuvres in space

Abstract: This talk will provide insight into the topic of decentralized brain and an implementation that was developed under SFB876 and tested above the Kármán line (100 km). Self-assembly protocols for aerospace structures development require a communication architecture that can assist in the decentralized control of those structures. The architecture presented in this talk is an infrastructure-less networking framework with a self-organizing wireless communications networking protocol; this includes a communication primitive for data structure replication with consistency that acts as a shared brain between the nodes. This article also presents the applicability for such a communication architecture in space applications with a proof-of-concept implementation in ultra-low power hardware to demonstrate the feasibility. The results of the suborbital tests will be discussed along with future developments on large-scale testing of the communication architecture, self-assembly experiments in space with connection to machine learning and the importance of decentralised communication.

CV: Aswin Karthik Ramachandran Venkatapathy has a Master's degree in Automation and Robotics and currently pursuing a research career at the chair of "Material Handling and Warehousing", Technical University of Dortmund, Germany. He is a Human-Machine Systems enthusiast with interests towards heterogeneous wireless communication, systems communication and integration of smart objects in industrial processes with emphasis in the field of Information Logistics. He is a visiting researcher at MIT Media Lab and the Space Exploration Initiative collaborating in developing and deploying experiments for self-assembly space architectures as part of SFB876. He is also working at the department of "Automation and Embedded systems" at Fraunhofer IML for deploying smart devices and robot systems for logistics processes.