By introducing biological principles of self-organization to swarm robotics, researchers have found it possible to get hundreds of coin-size robots to work together based only on local communication and movement — and without an underlying master plan. The research was published today in Science Robotics.

"We show that it is possible to apply nature's concepts of self-organization to human technology, like robots," said James Sharpe of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Barcelona, who served as one of the leaders of the research. Usually, he adds, technology is “very brittle” compared to the robustness of biology. “If one component of a car engine breaks down, it usually results in a non-functional car. By contrast when one element in a biological system fails, for example if a cell dies unexpectedly, it does not compromise the whole system, and will usually be replaced by another cell later,” he explained. “If we could achieve the same self-organization and self-repair in technology, we can enable it to become much more useful than it is now."

Swarm robots used during the experiments, shaped into a hand-made illustration of the technique. Source: AAASTo that end, the robots were programmed to act similarly to cells in a tissue, mimicking the system responsible for what are known as ‘Turing patterns’ seen in nature. To communicate, the robots rely on infrared messaging within close range.

The swarm forms various shapes by relocating robots from areas with low morphogen concentration to areas with high morphogen concentration, leading to the growth of protrusions. At least 300 robots were used in most of the team’s experiments. "It's beautiful to watch the swarm grow into shapes; it looks quite organic,” said Sabine Hauert of the University of Bristol, who co-led the research with Sharpe.

The Swarm-Organ project was initiated at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), when Sharpe was a group leader there. Early experiments took the form of computer simulations, and it took about three years before the phenomenon could be produced in the physical world. Robots would get stuck, or trail away from the swarm in the wrong direction. Yet the large-scale shape formation of the swarm proved more reliable than each of the little robots; the whole was greater than the sum of its parts.

Ultimately, the goal is to make large robot swarms for real-world applications: growing shapes to explore a disaster environment following an earthquake or fire, for instance, or sculpting themselves into a dynamic 3D structure such as a temporary bridge. Just as in nature, the swarm could keep working even if some of the robots were damaged.

For now, the swarms will stay within a laboratory environment. But stay tuned.