How smart does an agent need to be?

The classic distributed computation is done by atoms, molecules or spins in vast numbers, each equipped with nothing more than the knowledge of their immediate neighborhood and the rules of statistical mechanics. These agents, 10²³ or more, are able to form liquids and solids from gases, realize extremely complex ordered states, such as liquid crystals, and even decode encrypted messages. We will describe a study done for a sensor-array "challenge problem" in which we have based our approach on old-fashioned simulated annealing to accomplish target acquisition and tracking under the rules of statistical mechanics. We believe the many additional constraints that occur in the real problem can be folded, step by step, into this stochastic approach. The results have applicability to other network management problems on scales where a distributed solution will be mandatory.