[alife] 2nd Call for Abstracts: 7th Morphogenetic Engineering Workshop (MEW) at ECAL, Sept 4, 2017, Lyon, France

Rene Doursat R.Doursat at mmu.ac.uk
Fri Jun 23 03:23:33 PDT 2017


(Apologies for cross-posting)

2nd Call for Abstracts:

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THE SEVENTH MORPHOGENETIC ENGINEERING WORKSHOP (MEW 2017)

At ECAL 2017, September 4, 2017, Lyon, France

** http://doursat.free.fr/mew2017.html **

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This workshop aims to promote and expand Morphogenetic Engineering, a field of research exploring the artificial design and implementation of autonomous systems capable of developing complex, heterogeneous morphologies. Particular emphasis is set on the programmability and computing abilities of self-organization, properties that are often underappreciated in complex systems science--while, conversely, the benefits of self-organization are often underappreciated in engineering methodologies.

ORGANIZERS

* Rene Doursat, http://doursat.free.fr
* Hiroki Sayama, http://bingweb.binghamton.edu/~sayama

OVERVIEW

Traditional engineered products are generally made of a number of unique, heterogeneous components assembled in complicated but precise ways, and are intended to work deterministically following specifications given by their designers. By contrast, self-organization in natural complex systems (physical, biological, ecological, social) often emerges from the repetition of agents obeying identical rules under stochastic dynamics. These systems produce relatively regular patterns (spots, stripes, waves, trails, clusters, hubs, etc.) that can be characterized by a small number of statistical variables. They are random and/or shaped by boundary conditions, but do not exhibit an intrinsic architecture like engineered products do.

Two salient exceptions, however, strikingly demonstrate the possibility of combining pure self-organization and elaborate architectures: biological development (the self-assembly of myriads of cells into the body plans and appendages of organisms) and insect constructions (the stigmergic collaboration of colonies of social insects toward large and complicated nests). These structures are composed of segments and parts arranged in very specific ways that resemble the products of human inventiveness. Yet, they entirely self-assemble in a decentralized fashion, under the control of genetic or behavioral rules stored in every agent.

How do these collectives (cells or insects) achieve such impressive morphogenetic tasks so reliably? Can we export their precise self-formation capabilities to engineered systems? What are principles and best practices for the design and engineering of such morphogenetic systems?

REFERENCES

* Doursat, Sayama & Michel (2013) A review of morphogenetic engineering. Natural Computing 12(2): 517-535, http://doursat.free.fr/nacopub.html

* Doursat, Sayama & Michel (2012) Morphogenetic Engineering. Springer-Verlag, ISBN 978-3-642-33901-1, http://doursat.free.fr/mebook.html

TOPICS OF INTEREST

* New principles of morphogenesis in artificial systems
* Bio-inspiration from plant vs. animal development
* Programmability of self-organizing morphogenetic systems
* Indirect, decentralized control of morphogenetic systems
* Sensitivity to environmental/boundary conditions vs. endogenous drive
* Evolvability, by variations and selection, of morphogenetic systems
* Links with evolutionary computation, artificial embryogeny, "evo-devo" approaches
* Swarm-based approaches to morphogenetic systems
* Design techniques for morphogenetic engineering
* Causalities between micro and macro properties of morphogenetic systems
* Physical implementations
* Applications to real-world problems (swarm robots, synthetic biology, complex networks, etc.)
* Philosophical questions about morphogenetic engineering

PAST EVENTS

Previous Morphogenetic Engineering Workshops or Sessions (MEWs):
* 6th MEW, 2016 at Alife XV, Cancun: http://doursat.free.fr/mew2016.html
* 5th MEW, 2015 at ECAL'15, York: http://iscpif.fr/MEW2015
* 4th MEW, 2014 at Alife XIV, New York
* 3rd MEW, 2011 at ECAL'11, Paris
* 2nd MEW, 2010 at ANTS'10, Brussels: http://doursat.free.fr/mew2010.html
* 1st MEW, 2009 at ISC-PIF, Paris

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

Authors are invited to submit an abstract (up to 2 pages, figures and references welcome) on their research or a review and discussion about aspects of Morphogenetic Engineering. It should be prepared following the ECAL 2017 paper format. Work may be original or already published (please specify). Accepted abstracts will be compiled into workshop proceedings and published online on the MEW website for free download.

Please send your PDF abstract by email to both organizers:

Rene Doursat <r.doursat at mmu.ac.uk>
Hiroki Sayama <sayama at binghamton.edu>

IMPORTANT DATES

* Abstract submission deadline: July 4, 2017
* Notification of acceptance: July 14, 2017
* Camera-ready abstract due: July 31, 2017
* Workshop date: September 4, 2017

The workshop will last about 3.5 hours and the total number of speakers is limited to 6. Submissions will be reviewed based on their relevance to the workshop, clarity, and overall quality. Whether submitting or simply attending, please register via the online ECAL 2017 conference registration system.

** http://doursat.free.fr/mew2017.html **


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