1,000-strong robot swarm makes spontaneous shapes

The coin-sized robots use collective behaviour strategies to build 2D patterns.

Scientists have created a swarm of shape-shifting robots that can make 2D patterns of their own accord.

The robot swarm is not programmed to move in a particular way; each robot follows a simple set of instructions and communicates with other robots close by through infrared light to determine its direction of movement. 

Using collective intelligence, the 1,024 Kilobots (as they are called) self-assemble into particular patterns over a number of hours by wobbling around the outside of the mass of robots until they sense that they are 'inside' the shape. 

The robots start in a random 2D clump and a number of 'seeders' act as instigators for the self-assembly process. The robots vibrate like mobile phones to move towards the seeders to form the shape.

The research was published in Science (15 August) by Michael Rubenstein, a computer scientist, and his team at Harvard University in the US.

The use of local communication to form shapes mirrors the collective behaviour of ants. This research could shine a light on the group dynamics of insects, schools of fish or mammal herds. 

These little shape-shifting Kilbots could be the start of a whole new era of robotics. Naturereported that Rubenstein thought "such behaviour could be useful in creating programmable matter: tiny robots the size of sand grains that could rearrange themselves into tools of any shape, such as a wrench. These future robots would act 'like a three-dimensional printer, but instead of printing with plastic filament, you'd be printing with robots that can move themselves'".

However, the robots are not perfect yet and often form miniature 'traffic jams'. The final shapes also tend to look a little sketchy because the robots wobble around before landing.