 |
Bees Key To Cooperative Robots
The 1995 novel The Diamond Age, by Neal Stephenson, contains a variety of references to tiny nanobots (very small robots) that cooperate on various tasks. They range from mites, tiny cleaning machines, to swarms of airborne nanomachines that work together to form a dog pod grid, a defensive formation to protect suburban enclaves.
How can robots learn cooperative behavior, and learn to work with each other (and with crowds of humans)?
A new computer vision system that provides automated analysis of the movements of honeybees may provide the answer. Tucker Balch, the team leader for the Georgia Institute Biotracking Project, believes that the study of behavior that involves the interaction of many simple individuals - like bees - may tell us how to program robots that act in groups. He says "We believe the language of behavior is common between robots and animals... we could videotape ants for a long period of time, learn their 'program' and run it on a robot."
Determining the most efficient Internet network route for data packets, a problem that has proven difficult for human mathematicians, may be easier for insects. A routing algorithm derived by biologists working with insects has proven to be the best solution we have so far.
See Busy Bees: Computer Vision System Automates Analysis of Bee Activity for Insight into Biologically Inspired Robot Design at the Georgia Research Tech News website. Or, learn more about swarm engineering.
To find out more about Neal Stephenson's novel, that elaborates the idea of nanotechnology robots moving with insect-like patterns in the real world, read Science Fiction Inventions from The Diamond Age.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 12/12/2003)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Robotics ")
BladeBUG Robots Clean Massive Wind Turbine Blades
'There were the cleaners, with large padded feet, who were apparently polishing their way the whole length...' - Arthur C. Clarke, 1972.
IceBot Antarctic (Planetary?) Robotic Explorers Made Of Ice
'Some will combine in place to form more complicated structures, like excavators or centipedes.' - Greg Bear, 2015
Study: Robots Encourage Humans To Take Risks
Not exactly Three Laws compliant.
Best Robot Dance Video Of 2020
'I can Mashed Potato... I can do the Twist.' - Chubby Checker, 1961
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Current News
DALL-E Makes Creative Images From Text
Okay, sf fans. If you could have some art created from a science fiction sentence, what sentence would you pick?
BladeBUG Robots Clean Massive Wind Turbine Blades
'There were the cleaners, with large padded feet, who were apparently polishing their way the whole length...'
Looms To Manually Weave Lunar Rover Wheels
It's fascinating to me how the Apollo program forced people to think outside their usual boxes.
IceBot Antarctic (Planetary?) Robotic Explorers Made Of Ice
'Some will combine in place to form more complicated structures, like excavators or centipedes.'
Glad 2020 Is Over
Maybe you missed one of these?
PEDOT Polymer Could Enhance Brain-Machine Interfaces
'the hair-fine wire going deep into Owen's brain, down into the pleasure center.'
Study: Robots Encourage Humans To Take Risks
Not exactly Three Laws compliant.
Kinetic Buildings And Psychotropic Houses
'There was a dim whirring, and the spheres tipped and began to rotate...'
Jupe Urban Escape Pods Have Tesla, SpaceX Roots
'The houses are prefabricated units... and they sell at the flat rate of five hundred dollars a room — set up.'
Best Robot Dance Video Of 2020
'I can Mashed Potato... I can do the Twist.'
Vertical Farm In Singapore's Output Is 1.5 Tons Per Day
'A towering eighty-story structure like the office "In-and-Out" baskets stacked up to the sky.'
3D Printed 'Blisk' Manufactured In Orbit
'It can be mass-produced only in the orbiting factories...'
Comercial Airlock 'Bishop' Now On ISS
'They put the bones and the glass can that had contained the soup into the double-doored partition or vestibule...'
Space Station Could Use Some Martian Sawgrass
'What better purifying machine is there than a plot of grass?'
ARTUu AI Copilot For USAF
'A series of short beep's and chirps issued from his speaker...'
Smellicopter Combines Live Moth Antenna With Mechanical Drone
'The organic tissue is inserted in the master tank and then sealed.'
