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Inspired by Swarming Termites, Robots Can Build Without Supervision
Thinking about insect swarms can make your skin crawl. But for some scientists, those thoughts inspired an idea for creating small robots that as a group can build a simple structure, with each bot working independently and without a blueprint.
Modeling the behavior of termites, a Harvard research team has assembled small robots and developed software that enables them to build something without supervision. Working with no central control, the robots instead are guided by simple rules as they interact with their environment, tools, and each other.
Ultimately, the goal is to have the bots swarming in places where it's dangerous or difficult for humans to work, like disaster zones or in outer space.
The Harvard team's theory and formulas were inspired by millions of termites that work autonomously to build mounds—some taller than 10 feet (3 meters)—in African rain forests and savannas.
Principal investigator Radhika Nagpal was joined by lead author Justin Werfel and electrotechnical engineer Kirstin Petersen. They describe their work in a paper in Friday's issue of Science.
In videos that accompany their paper, the researchers show teams of robots using foam blocks to build a variety of structures, from a simple set of stairs to a low wall surrounding what could become a room.
It's impressive that the robots can stack things, said James McLurkin, a computer scientist at Rice University who is also looking to mimic the group behavior of insects. "They're putting blocks on top of each other to build something," McLurkin said. "No one's done this before."
Programming Independence
The Harvard team's simpler demonstration has three robots assembling four stairs that reach four blocks in height. Just to do that, the software and robots have to accomplish about 100 steps in correct order.
The bots perceive only the bricks and other robots in their immediate vicinity, using simple rules to move, climb, and carry bricks to the right spot.
A human user need only design a structure and the software automatically generates the rules that guide the robots. New formulas developed by the researchers turn the high-level goal into low-level rules.
Swarms of small, inexpensive robots operating independently offer advantages over other robot systems.
Multiple robots controlled by a central source can be difficult to scale, as larger teams can overwhelm a central coordinator, whether a computer or human. The robot hordes also can continue working if a few, or even many, individuals fail.
Insects Are Laughing at Us
The work reflects growing scientific interest in reproducing animal and insect behavior through mechanics and electronics to accomplish human goals. The specific concept of insect swarms is crucial to the success of future robotics, McLurkin said.
"Multiple robots working together will conduct search and rescue, patrol large geographic areas, map the floor of the ocean, and explore under your kitchen refrigerator," he said.
But challenges loom large. Scientists struggle to control even five or ten robots at a time.
"Insects look at our goals of five to ten thousand robots and just chuckle," McLurkin said, contrasting that with what bugs themselves manage: "They're dealing with five to ten million."
Scientists say they also work to help the public get past the "ick factor" when they speak of robots that swarm like insects, through outreach to schools and other groups.
Petersen said she often uses the argument that small, insectlike machines should be less intimidating than large, complex, and humanoid versions: "Wouldn't you rather have small, simple robots you could easily crush?"
The researchers don't envision the robot teams otherwise replacing human construction crews.
That's because the robots, operating on their own, work with a randomness akin to robotic vacuums that crawl indiscriminately around a room.
"Because they are working on their own," Petersen said, "the robots can't operate as efficiently as a human crew."
Source: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/02/140213-robots-building-blocks-termites-swarm-science-technology/
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Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
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