Swarms of robots acting together to carry out jobs could provide new opportunities for humans to harness the power of machines.
Researchers in the Sheffield Centre for Robotics, jointly established by the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University, have been working to program a group of 40 robots, and say the ability to control robot swarms could prove hugely beneficial in a range of contexts, from military to medical.
The researchers have demonstrated that the swarm can carry out simple fetching and carrying tasks, by grouping around an object and working together to push it across a surface.
The robots can also group themselves together into a single cluster after being scattered across a room, and organize themselves by order of priority.
Dr Roderich Gross, head of the Natural Robotics Lab, in the Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering at the University of Sheffield, says swarming robots could have important roles to play in the future of micromedicine, as ‘nanobots’ are developed for non-invasive treatment of humans. On a larger scale, they could play a part in military, or search and rescue operations, acting together in areas where it would be too dangerous or impractical for humans to go. In industry too, robot swarms could be put to use, improving manufacturing processes and workplace safety.
The programming that the University of Sheffield team has developed to control the robots is deceptively simple. For example, if the robots are being asked to group together, each robot only needs to be able to work out if there is another robot in front of it. If there is, it turns on the spot; if there isn’t, it moves in a wider circle until it finds one.
Dr Gross said: “We are developing Artificial Intelligence to control robots in a variety of ways. The key is to work out what is the minimum amount of information needed by the robot to accomplish its task. That’s important because it means the robot may not need any memory, and possibly not even a processing unit, so this technology could work for nanoscale robots, for example in medical applications.”
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Swarm robotics
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The Latest Google Headlines on:
Swarm robotics
[google_news title=”” keyword=”swarm robotics” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”] [/vc_column_text]The Latest Bing News on:
Swarming robots
- Soft caterpillar robot moves its body by origami-poweron May 9, 2024 at 2:49 pm
If a soft-bodied robot uses rigid actuators to move its body, then it isn't really soft now, is it? An experimental new caterpillar-inspired bot gets around that conundrum by using soft, collapsible ...
- Swarms of Miniature Robots Clean Up Microplastics and Microbes, Simultaneouslyon May 9, 2024 at 1:32 am
Microscale robots that mimic natural swarms, like schools of fish, have been designed to capture microplastics and bacteria from water.
- Swarm of tiny snail robots stick together to form new structureson May 8, 2024 at 6:15 am
Researchers have built a swarm of miniature, snail-inspired robots, minus all the mucus. Instead, a retractable suction cup works in tandem with the remote-controlled machine’s tank-like treads to ...
- Video shows how swarms of miniature robots simultaneously clean up microplastics and microbeson May 8, 2024 at 5:00 am
When old food packaging, discarded children's toys and other mismanaged plastic waste break down into microplastics, they become even harder to clean up from oceans and waterways. These tiny bits of ...
- Microrobots Swarm the Seas, Capturing Microplastics and Bacteria [Video]on May 8, 2024 at 5:00 am
Researchers have developed microrobots capable of removing microplastics and bacteria from water, addressing the dual threat of pollution and disease spread in aquatic environments. When old food ...
- Swarms of miniature robots clean up microplastics and microbes, simultaneously (video)on May 7, 2024 at 5:00 pm
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- Swarm of Swiss robots could take part in future space missionson May 7, 2024 at 12:01 am
Researchers in Zurich propose using a swarm of small robots instead of a heavy rover for future space missions.
- Swarming Snail Robots Can Reconfigure Themselves To Traverse Obstacles, Manipulate Objectson May 6, 2024 at 4:42 pm
Developed by researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, these swarming snail-inspired robots can join together in different configurations to traverse obstacles in their path. Do real snails ...
- Engineers create a caterpillar-shaped robot that splits into segments, reassembles, hauls and crawlson May 6, 2024 at 12:00 pm
Engineers at Princeton and North Carolina State University have combined ancient paper-folding and modern materials science to create a soft robot that bends and twists through mazes with ease.
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