Looking at nature to implement swarm intelligence

As engineers we like to build perfect structures, as mathematicians we like to have proofs. The real world, however, does not play nice: in a dynamic and changing world, real projects are often facing computational complexity beyond what current (or any, for that matter) hardware can handle, making the finding of the perfect solution flat-out impossible. Furthermore, the world is continuously changing and the proverbial ground is shifting under our feet. Solutions for the real world often have to adapt, in real-time. So, as a way of handling this, mathematicians, computer scientists and engineers often look at nature for inspiration. Nature-inspired approaches are pervasive and all around us, be it e.g. Simulated Annealing (using insights from Physics), Genetic Algorithms (using insights from biology), or making use of the self-organization found in molecules and chemical compounds. Hanno has been interested, in and working with heuristics inspired by social insects (e.g. ants) since his studies at the UvA in the 90s and will showcase his work using the nest-building model for termites which was used to e.g. control swarms of drones.