This book thoroughly investigates the underlying theoretical basis of membrane computing models, and reveals their latest applications. In addition, to date there have been no illustrative case studies or complex real-life applications that capitalize on the full potential of the sophisticated membrane systems computational apparatus; gaps that this book remedies. By studying various complex applications – including engineering optimization, power systems fault diagnosis, mobile robot controller design, and complex biological systems involving data modeling and process interactions – the book also extends the capabilities of membrane systems models with features such as formal verification techniques, evolutionary approaches, and fuzzy reasoning methods. As such, the book offers a comprehensive and up-to-date guide for all researchers, PhDs and undergraduate students in the fields of computer science, engineering and the bio-sciences who are interested in the applications of natural computing models.

The theoretical basis of membrane computing was established in the early 2000s with fundamental research into the computational power, complexity aspects and relationships with other (un)conventional computing paradigms. Although this core theoretical research has continued to grow rapidly and vigorously, another area of investigation has since been added, focusing on the applications of this model in many areas, most prominently in systems and synthetic biology, engineering optimization, power system fault diagnosis and mobile robot controller design. The further development of these applications and their broad adoption by other researchers, as well as the expansion of the membrane computing modelling paradigm to other applications, call for a set of robust, efficient, reliable and easy-to-use tools supporting the most significant membrane computing models. This work provides comprehensive descriptions of such tools, making it a valuable resource for anyone interested in membrane computing models.

This book constitutes revised selected papers from the 19th International Conference on Membrane Computing (CMC19), CMC 2018, which was held in Dresden, Germany, in September 2018. The 15 papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 20 submissions. The contributions aim to abstract computing ideas and models from the structure and the functioning of living cells, as well as from the way the cells are organized in tissues or higher order structures.

Membrane computing is a branch of natural computing which investigates computing models abstracted from the structure and functioning of living cells and from their interactions in tissues or higher-order biological structures. The models considered, called membrane systems (P systems), are parallel, distributed computing models, processing multisets of symbols in cell-like compartmental architectures. In many applications membrane systems have considerable advantages – among these are their inherently discrete nature, parallelism, transparency, scalability and nondeterminism. In dedicated chapters, leading experts explain most of the applications of membrane computing reported so far, in biology, computer science, computer graphics and linguistics. The book also contains detailed reviews of the software tools used to simulate P systems.

Developments in bio-inspired computation have impacted multiple fields and created opportunities for new applications. In recent years, these techniques have been increasingly integrated into robotic systems. Membrane Computing for Distributed Control of Robotic Swarms: Emerging Research and Opportunities is an innovative reference source for the latest perspectives on biologically-inspired computation techniques for robot design and control. Highlighting a range of pivotal topics such as software engineering, simulation tools, and robotic security, this book is ideally designed for researchers, academics, students, and practitioners interested in the role of membrane computing in mobile robots.

This book constitutes the refereed post-conference proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Membrane Computing, CMC 2020, held as a virtual event, in September 2020. The 10 full papers presented were selected from 31 submissions. The papers deal with all aspects on membrane computing and related areas.

Membrane Computing was introduced as a computational paradigm in Natural Computing. The models introduced, called Membrane (or P) Systems, provide a coherent platform to describe and study living cells as computational systems. Membrane Systems have been investigated for their computational aspects and employed to model problems in other fields, like: Computer Science, Linguistics, Biology, Economy, Computer Graphics, Robotics, etc. Their inherent parallelism, heterogeneity and intrinsic versatility allow them to model a broad range of processes and phenomena, being also an efficient means to solve and analyze problems in a novel way. Membrane Computing has been used to model biological systems, becoming with time a thorough modeling paradigm comparable, in its modeling and predicting capabilities, to more established models in this area. This book is the result of the need to collect, in an organic way, different facets of this paradigm. The chapters of this book, together with the web pages accompanying them, present different applications of Membrane Systems to Biology. Deterministic, non-deterministic and stochastic systems paired with different algorithms and methodologies show the full potential of this framework. The book is addressed to researchers interested in applications of discrete biological models and the interplay between Membrane Systems and other approaches to analyze complex systems.

Through expanded intelligence, the use of robotics has fundamentally transformed a variety of fields, including manufacturing, aerospace, medicine, social services, and agriculture. Continued research on robotic design is critical to solving various dynamic obstacles individuals, enterprises, and humanity at large face on a daily basis. Robotic Systems: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications is a vital reference source that delves into the current issues, methodologies, and trends relating to advanced robotic technology in the modern world. Highlighting a range of topics such as mechatronics, cybernetics, and human-computer interaction, this multi-volume book is ideally designed for robotics engineers, mechanical engineers, robotics technicians, operators, software engineers, designers, programmers, industry professionals, researchers, students, academicians, and computer practitioners seeking current research on developing innovative ideas for intelligent and autonomous robotics systems.

This book contains revised selected papers from the 18th International Conference on Membrane Computing, CMC 2017, held in Bradford, UK, in July 2017. The 18 full papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 29 submissions. They deal with membrane computing (P systems theory), an area of computer science aiming to abstract computing ideas and models from the structure and the functioning of living cells, as well as from the way the cells are organized in tissues or higher order structures. The volume also contains 2 invited talks.