Link: TheStar.com - Toronto firm's gadget imitates how bees solve problems without a central commander.
Regen Energy of Toronto is applying 'swarm logic' to develop a "wireless device that allows major electrical appliances in a building to communicate with each other at a very basic level, with the goal of minimizing how much power these appliances collectively use at a given point in time." Without requiring a central controller, it minimizes the number of appliances operating concurrently. Benefits include reducing peak load for a building from 20-30% (which can dramatically reduce the electricity bill) and lower electrical grid peak demand (often provided from coal or gas-fired plants).
Although 'central control' systems have a proven track record, costs raise dramatically as the system scales out, and these 'top-down' systems can fail dramatically. Distributed, "emergent systems tend to be much more robust in the long run, and tend to survive these big disturbances a lot better."
Technology Review posted an updated overview at http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/22066/?nlid=1743. An article on the REGEN Energy control was published in the December 2007 BioInspired! Newsletter (http://biomimicry.typepad.com/newsletter/2007/12/december-2007-n.html).
Posted by: NH | February 04, 2009 at 10:44 AM