A new generation of sensor rich, massively distributed systems is emerging that offer the potential for profound economic and environmental impact, including deep space explorers, unmanned air vehicles, rovers, factory automation systems and sensor webs that monitor the earth ecosystem. On the drawing board are embedded systems that will operate autonomously for years at a time within harsh and uncertain environments, achieving unprecedented levels of proficiency and robustness.

Creating these intelligent embedded systems requires a software revolution that draws together a diverse set of computational methods from artificial intelligence, software engineering, operations research and control. This course focuses on principles and algorithms for prototyping embedded systems that are able to perform high levels of deduction and adaptation. The course will be organized as an active exploration of the modern research literature. Examples of embedded systems include self-directed deep space probes, robotic soccer teams, acrobatic helicopters and mobile robots.

Prerequisites: 6.034, 6.041 or Permission of Instructor