What is Autonomic?
Like the autonomic nervous system of living creatures the ANS operates without the need for control by the user, functioning in an involuntary, reflexive manner in the background without their interference or knowledge of its mechanics. This is exactly what is needed to support ubiquitous computing environments, especially in the application of the “intelligent home” and medical applications where constant technical support is impossible.
A ubiquitous network must have a high degree of automatic adaptability and reconfigurability since it is inconceivable that we should require users to perform explicit systems management and maintenance. The ANS is self-configuring, self-optimising, and self-repairing. The user can seamlessly plug and unplug units into and out of the network.
The ANS project ran from mid-2003 until the end of 2005. The ANS protocol, the Tesseræ language, and the Beastie wireless sensor nodes continue to be used in the current Bop! project.