Agents spy on fires

Computer scientists at Washington University in St. Louis have created software agents that can navigate a robot safely through a fire and then replicate themselves.

The engineers are using wireless sensor networks that employ software agents that so far have been able to navigate the robot and spot a simulated fire by seeking out heat. Once the agent locates the fire, it clones itself, creating a ring of software around the fire.

A ‘fireman’ can then communicate with this multifaceted agent through a PDA and learn where the fire is and how intense it is. Should the fire expand, the agents clone again and maintain the ring.

Agents are specialised pieces of code that are self-contained and mobile. Wireless sensor networks are made up of tiny computers that can fit in the palm of a hand. They can run on simple AA batteries, sport an antenna and a sensor with the specialised duty of sensing the environment; temperature, magnetism, sound, and humidity, for instance.