graduate-level, special topic course [ISyE 8800C - CRN 28225; CS 8803M - CRN 26056]

Time: Tuesdays and Thursday, 4:30 - 6 ; Room: 219, Instr. Ctr.

Instructor: Carl Anderson (carl@isye.gatech.edu) Anderson/Inteface Visiting Assistant Professor in Natural Systems

See prelimary shechulde and downloadable materials below

Fish schools are incredible things. They snake through the water like a single entity, turning in unison, waves of activity flashing across the shoal. However, their group-level behavior is not encoded within each individual, nor is there a leader or small group of individuals directing the movement of the school. It is instead a process whereby individual fish react to movements of their immediate neighbors and, as a result of such local interactions, the group-level pattern of activity arises spontaneously. This is an example of biological self-organization.

In this course, we will explore the phenomenon of self-organization in a whole range of systems, from ants to humans to robots. We will consider aspects such as what self-organization is, how these complex, emergent group-level properties arise, and how we might utilize such systems as a new way of solving complex logistical problems. The course will consist of formal lectures, class discussion of published research articles, and hands on exploration of self-organization using simulation models (prior programming experience is not required). Students have signed up from ISyE, Biology and Computer Science and thus should introduce a range of perspectives and interests and hence make this a truly interdisciplinary course.

StarLogo simulations, powerpoint presentations, and other documents will be added for downloading (by clicking on lecture title) as the class progresses.

Key for last column:

• G = general lecture;
• B = mostly biological;
• R = mostly robotics;
• I = mostly industrial and systems engineering (ISyE)

Entries in red are still very preliminary and may change as the course progresses