In a live demonstration, the TaRDIS research team unveiled a cutting-edge decentralized messaging app that showcases the power and versatility of swarm intelligence and edge computing technologies. The event provided a hands-on look at how distributed autonomous systems can be built using the TaRDIS innovation toolbox, particularly from the contributions of Work Package 6 (WP6).
The new messaging app, simply named TaRDIS Messaging App, exemplifies the concept of a “swarm”—a decentralized network of heterogeneous, self-organizing nodes working collaboratively without centralized control. These nodes, ranging from Raspberry Pis to laptops and Android devices, form an overlay network that uses gossip protocols and anti-entropy mechanisms to ensure reliable and efficient message propagation, even in unreliable or disconnected environments.
A Real-World Swarm in Action
During the demo, the TaRDIS team showcased how devices such as Raspberry Pi 4s (with 2GB RAM), Android phones, tablets, and laptops autonomously connected to a local wireless access point—operating entirely without internet access. The devices formed a resilient swarm, broadcasting and receiving messages in real-time using probabilistic dissemination protocols and redundancy detection. The system demonstrated robustness against temporary disconnections, with missing messages later recovered through plug-and-play anti-entropy mechanims.
Each node in the swarm periodically generated messages containing both metadata and random file attachments, simulating real-world communication patterns and traffic loads. A standout feature of the architecture is its ability to adapt to varying device capabilities, network conditions, and node failures without any human intervention or centralized coordination.
Built on the TaRDIS Toolbox
The app leverages several innovations from the TaRDIS toolbox, including:
- Babel-Swarm and Babel-Android – Java-based frameworks supporting self-configuration, management, and security across platforms.
- Push Gossip Protocol – A lightweight broadcast mechanism utilizing neighbor lists to propagate messages collaboratively and efficiently.
- Anti-Entropy Protocol – A protocol for detecting and recovering lost messages.
- Randomized Estimation Algorithms – For dynamically assessing swarm size and behavior.
- Messaging App Controller – A platform-specific component that connects protocol-level operations to user interfaces on both laptops and Android devices.
Versatile Use Cases Across Domains
The TaRDIS Messaging app is more than a tech demo—it highlights the foundational technologies that can be extended to real-world applications, including:
- Federated Machine Learning (Cronica): Fully decentralized model training and aggregation.
- Satellite Navigation (GMT): Efficient data exchange between orbiting nodes with intermittent connectivity.
- Renewable Energy Markets (EDP R&D): Dynamic peer-to-peer coordination of energy offers and demands.
- Arctic Communication (Arcticx): Eventual total order broadcast for remote, high-latency environments.
Open Participation and Scalability
The demo concluded by inviting participants to join the swarm using their own laptops or Android devices, emphasizing the app’s ease of deployment and scalability. Participants simply connected to a local wireless network, launched the application, and instantly became part of the autonomous swarm—sending and receiving messages, attachments, and system metrics in real time.
As the TaRDIS team demonstrated the app’s operations, including successful file transfers and anti-entropy message recovery, the presentation solidified the swarm-based messaging platform as a promising candidate for resilient, decentralized systems of the future.
Watch demo on our YouTube channel or here below: