Spider Webs and Slime Mold – Nature’s Networking Genius

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants Leave a Comment

As aircraft become more electrified and integrated in their operations, even light airplanes are turning to networking system such as ARINC AFDX and CANBUS to link their different operational elements (See “An LSA With the Electric Heart of an Airliner, May 24, 2010).  The ability to sustain failure or damage in any one element without disrupting safe operation of other subsystems or the aircraft itself becomes a primary consideration. During the Electric Aircraft Symposium’s Friday evening dinner sessions, Dr. Svetlana Poroseva of Florida State University’s Center for Advanced Power Systems (CAPS) presented a four-minute rundown on her efforts to find a network topology that provides the necessary reliability and robustness to allow power systems or naval vessels in combat, for instance, to continue their missions with the least loss of capabilities. Her findings were that a web network, not unlike that of a spider web, allowed the greatest fault tolerance, least disruption of other services and enabled mission fulfillment. This …