We have covered a fair number of advancements made in the field of robotics recently, where among them include the very real possibility of making humans obsolete when it comes to flipping burgers at a restaurant. Having said that, here is yet another development in the realm of robotics thanks to researchers in a Harvard University laboratory, who came up with this particular swarm of tiny robots dubbed Kilobots.
The researchers behind this battalion of 1,024 robots claimed that the mini-machines were able to communicate with one another, and not only that, actually organize themselves into two-dimensional shapes – including the letters of the alphabet. Perhaps it would be useful when used by one human to another in communicating, especially when the use of speech is not an option as you can then “spell” out your message.
While robots working in groups have been achieved before, none of them ever comprised of such size. The Kilobots will receive their instructions from researchers through an infrared transmitter, and they go ahead to fulfill those instructions to the best of their ability possible, now how about that?
The Kilobots do have their limitations now though, as they will only work on extremely smooth surfaces. As for its cost, each one will cost around $14 to build, while the robot itself measures 1.2” in diameter and 2” tall.
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