Self-Adaptation in Highly Distributed Dynamic Systems: part of Report from the GI Dagstuhl Seminar 14433: Software Engineering for Self-Adaptive Systems

International audienceThis breakout group focused on identifying the challenges of performing self-adaptation in highly distributed dynamic systems. This is a pressing issue in self-adaptive systems research, as proposed ``smart" systems are increasingly built out of disparate entities (sensors and actuators) that feature a close connection to the physical world -- so-called cyber-physical systems (CPSs). Examples are numerous: intelligent vehicle navigation, fleets of autonomous robots, emergency coordination systems, to mention just a few. CPSs are typically distributed at the physical space and feature no firm boundaries -- they are open-ended. They are composed of loosely connected entities, that are often mobile. Grafting such systems with self-adaptive capabilities is a distinct challenge, which projects itself in all phases of the autonomic loop