MRI: Development of a mmWave-Networked Robotic Testbed for Multi-Agent AI Learning and Operations

This proposal aims to develop an experimental shared re-programmable platform that will provide robotics and research communities with an instrument that can be a catalyst in the field. The platform will advance research activities in the field of multiagent AI, mmWave networking and communications. It will enable rapid testing and repeatable comparable evaluation of collaborative swarming operations and distributed sensing, positioning, timing, navigation, and communication developed by researchers at different institutions.

To the best of the investigators’ knowledge) to recreate mobility and dynamism seen in real world scenarios it will be the first to allow thorough experimental evaluation of multifunction mmWave radios, and creates an opportunity to strengthen the on-going partnerships between researchers in mmWave networking and an industrial player that has been leading the development of mmWave and subTHz software-defined radios,

The platform offers a unique research and training opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) for the potential to train information technology professionals and scientists with unique theoretical and system design skills in mmWave wireless networking, robotics, and multiple-agent AI operations. Indeed, it has the potential to become the experimental platform of choice for te mmWave communications and networking and robotics research community.

Moreover, researchers at other institutions will be allowed (and trained appropriately) to use the platform.

The platform will be incorporated into the current graduate courses taught by the PIs to provide students with an edge over other wireless communication and networking-centric graduates, thus providing these students with an advantage in the competitive job market. The instrument will also benefit the CISE community advancing robotics and wireless research.

The infrastructure will be available for researchers in the field. FAU will either charge user’s fees as needed or will provide access free of charge to users willing to fund their own experiments. The code and schematics of the mmWave transceiver kit will be made available to the community.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.