Robot Flash Mob
A team of researchers has developed a swarm of 1,024 self-organizing robots that can perform complex tasks without any central guiding intelligence. Known as Kilobots, they are designed to collaborate using “hive intelligence” much the way social insects, such as ants, do.
Each unit is about the diameter of a penny and contains a microprocessor, infrared sensor and two vibrating motors that enable it to slide along a surface on rigid legs. They’re basically programmed to understand three things: to follow the group, to track the distance they’ve covered and to measure their proximity to neighboring robots. A single command to the entire swarm sets them into motion. Their collective artificial intelligence also incorporates rules to correct for traffic jams or errors in positioning.
Applications for the low-cost robots are vast, including transportation, construction, environmental cleanup and search and rescue.
For information: Michael Rubenstein, Harvard University, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 33 Oxford Street, Room 253, Cambridge, MA 02138; email: mrubenst@seas.harvard.edu; Web site: www.seas.harvard.edu
K-Team, Zl les Plans-Praz 28, CH-1337, Vallorbe, Switzerland; phone: +41-24-423-8950; fax: +41-24-423-8960; Web site: www.k-team.com
