A "swarm" of simple-minded robots that teams up to move an object too heavy for them to manage individually has been demonstrated by robotics researchers.
The robots cannot communicate and must act only on what they can see around them. They follow simple rules to fulfil their task - mimicking the way insects work together in a swarm.
"In the object transport scenario they search for a red object and grasp onto it," explains Dorigo. "When they do that they also change colour from blue to red." This means a cluster of bots is "connected" to the object. When the bots cannot see any more blue - meaning they are all linked together - they start dragging the object towards its target.
The robots can adjust their caterpillar tracks, to ensure they are all pulling in the right direction. "Each robot has a traction sensor inside that detects all the external forces on it," explains Dorigo. A robot uses its sensor to identify any conflicting forces, and then changes direction accordingly.
Dorigo is now working on a swarm of robots that could operate in a human environment. "It is called Swarmanoid and will have three different kinds of robots," he explains. Some robots will be able to crawl along like Swarm-bots, others will be able to climb walls, and others still will be able to fly, he says.