iRobot and Frontline Robotics Develop Swarm Robots
Market Watch
June 08, 2005
iRobot and Frontline Robotics are each developing robots with swarm or hive capabilities. These are robots that can make decisions as individuals but can also communicate with other robots in order to coordinate their actions to solve problems.
iRobot's SwarmBots communicate with their neighbors using their own internal messaging system. Global behaviors are formed from the interactions of many individuals by using a collection of "group behavior building blocks." [...] Proposed applications include land-mine disposal, nuclear/biological/ chemical threat detection, surveillance, and interplanetary exploration.
Frontline Robotics is developing six-wheeled unmanned ground units, or "Grunts," that are able to "perceive a security threat and take action in a coordinated manner."
Using their "hive intelligence," every robot in a team will be able to see what others see.
