Swarm Robotics

When most people picture swarms of collaborating robots, they generally think of applications such as search and rescue operations. A new study, however, suggests that such swarms could also be used to help artists put paint to canvas.

If swarms of tiny robots are ever going to be used for purposes such as exploring disaster sites, then they'd better be rugged. A bot created at the EPFL research institute seems to fit the bill, as it can withstand being squished by a fly swatter.

Most robots are usually made to do one particular job, so they’re not very adaptable to new situations. But researchers at MIT, Harvard, Columbia and Cornell Universities have developed particle robots – simple circular devices that can connect to each other magnetically to move and work as a swarm.

Swarms of insects and schools of fish have inspired engineers to create groups of robots that move as one entity, and now Aquabotix has unleashed SwarmDiver, a series of small synchronized swimmers loaded with sensors for defense, research or monitoring applications.

​As more drones crowd into the airspace, we’re going to need measures to keep them from crashing into each other. Researchers are teaching drones a few simple rules to help them avoid collisions on their own.

In a first for swarm robotics, a team of engineers has demonstrated intelligent aquatic surface robots that can operate together in a real-world environment using "Darwinian" learning.

BitDrones are flying 3D display pixels that are designed to swarm in their thousands to produce giant, interactive graphic displays that could be used for the likes of 3D gaming, medical imaging, and molecular modelling.

The European Union CoCoRo research consortium has been developing three varieties of autonomous underwater robots that school together like fish. By doing so, the little bots can share and learn from each others' "knowledge" of their environment, acting as a collective cognitive system.

Scientists at the University of Lincoln have developed a tiny, low-cost autonomous robot that replicates the behavior of swarming honeybees and uses an obstacle detection system inspired by locusts.

Researchers are currently looking into ways of allowing "swarms" of communicating robots to accomplish tasks that are difficult or even impossible for single robots. Harvard University recently performed an unprecedented demonstration of that behavior, using a batch of over 1,000 tiny Kilobots.

Harvard's Self-Organizing Systems Research Group has published some videos showing up to 100 Kilobots working together.

Swarm robots are learning to move in groups and communicate with one another, at the University of Colorado Boulder.