A group of swarm robots, developed by Marco Dorigo , and other from Free University of Brussels , Belgium, Institute of Cognitive Science and Technology in Italy, Autonomous Systems Laboratory , Switzerland, and Dalle Molle Institute for the Study of Artificial Intelligence , Switzerland, use simple rules to collaborate and work together. The robots can only see what's around them and cannot directly communicate to each other.



In this video, you can see how the robots locate the red object and try to latch onto it. Once they've grabbed it, they turn themselves red, thereby becoming part of the object. Once each robot can no longer see any red, they begin to move the object towards the light.

Each robot is just over 7" tall and comes with a gripper, and tracked wheels. They can also sense external forces acting on them, in order to determine which way the swarm is pulling on the object. The rules that the robots followed were developed specifically for the task they had at hand, but Dorigo is looking to develop a second generation of robots that will be able to interact in a human environments.



The potential for this kind of research is almost limitless. We look forward to hearing more about Dorigo's work in the future.



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The RB2000 robot from JR Robotics and VStone is able to perform some impressive acrobatic feats. Our friend, Lem, over at Robots Dreams captured some video of the RB2000 twirling about on the highbars. However,


Even so, the demonstrations of this robot's abilities has generated quite a bit of press for JR Robotics. You can find out more about the RB2000 here and on JR Robotics' website.





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It looks like the US Government aren't the only folks looking into robotic insects for death and destruction. The Israeli government is working with scientists to develop a robotic hornet to locate, spy on, and ultimately kill terrorists and suicide bombers.



Don't forget that the US Government is also working on bionic sharks.



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Dr. Josh Bongard, a graduate of Cornell University, and now an assistant professor at University of Vermont, has created a robot that automatically determines and compensates for any damage done to its four legs. The research, which recently appeared in Science Magazine (abstract here) is especially applicable to robots that will be sent on long missions in space or to other planets.



To demonstrate this ability, one of the robots legs is removed, and the robot then leans how to walk again with only three legs. The research was done for NASA and the Department of Energy.

Update: Here is a better article describing the robot. CNET has several good pictures of the robot.



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Not being a TV watcher myself, I know very little about the show, but apparently the producers of ABC's 'Wife Swap' are looking for a robot loving family to be on the show in the near future. Melissa Rothschild, from the casting department, is on the lookout for a two parent family with at least one child over 5 years old to be rewarded $20,000 USD for being on the show.



Other hobbiests report seeing this request in related internet forums and usergroups. If you or someone you know is interested in being a robot loving posterchild for familial perfection, you can contact Melissa at
1 212 404 2444 or email her at melissa.rothschild@rdfusa.com $20k can make a really nice robot. If you get on, let us know!






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