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Here’s a very special robotics development: Its 4 independent robots but which are capable of regrouping together to move and even fly off.

Invented at the Swiss Federal Institute, these robots can communicate amongst themselves and know precisely their positions in relation to each other.

Once regrouped, the data is analyzed and shared in order to optimize the movement.

It’s therefore a sort of group of intelligent robots which can merge into one super-intelligent unit.

This mobile mega structure could be used to move loads in difficult-to-access places, the robots only assembling once arriving at the destination which could allow the system to reach any region or hostile place.

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If there’s a new current trend in cars, excluding the ecological aspect and “green car“, it’s the number of tests and ideas of robotic cars which are appearing.

Volkswagen has invented a car prototype (a robotic Passat) that reverse parks all by itself, and while executing a controlled slide if you please!

How many people are capable of carrying out this type of maneuver successfully? Very few.

The Passat reverses at 40 km/h, puts on the breaks and does a 180 degree turn to park in a restricted space.

via IEEE

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What if there were no more cars on our streets in a few years and instead they were replaced by robots?

In any case, that’s the assertion of Stéphane Malandain, a compter science lecturer in Switzerland.

And he’s not talking about 40 years’ time but well before.

The streets will be filled with humanoid police officer robots, taxis, tourist guides, service robots and most definitely humanoid clones which can go out to do the shopping for us or walk the dog.

According to him:

“This much is sure, my vision is shared by the major global car manufacturers of today. They are preparing the future by investing colossal resources in the field of robotics and thus smoothly redirecting their core business. “

And it’s true. You just have to look at all these new personal mobility prototypes by Honda for example, and also the Segway, cars that drive themselves, or park without any human involvement, etc. The car is being more and more automated.

The rest of his article is less interesting since he speaks of the “danger” of superior and automated intelligence. There’s no real danger. One day things will be very different yes, but humans won’t be threatened because they’ll form an integral part of these intelligent machines which will allow humanity to develop exponentially.

But, that’s another debate : -)

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The Volkswagen Automotive Innovation Laboratory in Stanford (VAIL) has presented to the press a prototype of a car which drives and parks all by itself.

Botjunkie was on hand to report this video in which we see a Passat driving on its own and reversing in a parking lot.

The ceremony took place in the presence of German Chancellor Angela Merkel for the unveiling of the Audi Shelley and autonomous parking technology.

It almost seems like there’s an invisible man driving : -)

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Here is the cream-of-the-crop automobile: an autonomous car (that drives itself, like the Knight Rider K 2000).

This is the robot-guided Audi TTS, named Shelley and developed by engineers at Stanford University in California. We had already seen it in a video before but this time the car will tackle the course at Pikes Peak in the Colorado mountains this summer 2010.

The driverless car can reach a max speed of 210 km/h.

Unlike its preceding prototypes, Shelley does not drive using cameras and radar, but uses differential GPS, which indicates the pre-established path to the car, from the start to the end of the course.

The challenging part lies in its cornering when it may skid …

Here’s the new video from Stanford University:

via gizmag

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