Posted in: SERVO Blog (05/07 at 10:49 AM)
Robotic Termites
Termites building a mound don't need central guidance, or even to communicate directly. Researchers at Harvard University's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering have built robots that work with similar autonomy, as Dr. Justin Werfel explains.
Each robot executes its building process in parallel with others, but without knowing who else is working at the same time. If one robot breaks, or has to leave, it does not affect the others. This also means that the same instructions can be executed by five robots or five hundred. The TERMES system is an important proof of concept for scalable, distributed artificial intelligence.
If you would like to read more about Termes, visit wyss.harvard.edu/.