Harvard University researchers have created tiny robots that can organize themselves into groups and form shapes.
The research team directed the tiny bots to form a star and then the letter "K" suing infrared light. The robots, dubbed Kilobots, measure only a few centimeters across and move around on spindly legs.
The Kilobots demonstrate how "complexity can arise from very simple behaviors performed en masse," Harvard reported.
"The beauty of biological systems is that they are elegantly simple - and yet, in large numbers, accomplish the seemingly impossible. At some level, you no longer even see the individuals; you just see the collective as an entity to itself," said Radhika Nagpal, the Fred Kavli Professor of Computer Science at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and a core faculty member at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University.
Smaller entities working as one can accomplish more than a single individual. Nagpal used the example of a colony of ants, which can form rafts and bridges to cross dangerous terrain.
"We are especially inspired by systems where individuals can self-assemble together to solve problems," Nagpal said.
In the past few robot swarms have exceeded 100 individuals due to algorithmic limitations on coordinating so many individuals. A new design allowed the researchers to overcome these obstacles. Kilobots do not require intervention once their instructions have been delivered. Four robots hold the origin of the coordinate system, all the rest receive a 2-D image to mimic and use primitive behavior to move into an appropriate position. The Kilobots also have the ability to correct their own mistakes.
"These robots are much simpler than many conventional robots, and as a result, their abilities are more variable and less reliable," said Michael Rubenstein, a research associate at Harvard SEAS and the Wyss Institute. "For example, the Kilobots have trouble moving in a straight line, and the accuracy of distance sensing can vary from robot to robot."
The demonstration shows it's possible for large numbers of robots to complete human-specified tasks and assemble particular shapes.
"Increasingly, we're going to see large numbers of robots working together, whether it's hundreds of robots cooperating to achieve environmental cleanup or a quick disaster response, or millions of self-driving cars on our highways," Nagpal said. "Understanding how to design 'good' systems at that scale will be critical."
The study is described in the August 15 issue of Science.
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