Robots dance to Thriller in a synchronized fashion

The King of Pop is truly an enigmatic character, and his colorful past has seen him give the world some of the more electrifying dance moves, and his mega selling album Thriller has topped the charts time and again with so many great tracks to choose from. Here we are with a potentially interesting form of entertainment – to see robots dance in unison. In fact, the Nao robots taht you see in the video above were programmed to dance in unison to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” These robots are also able to pick up the pace dynamically, catching up with their peers if they are a step or two behind.

These NAO robots were constructed by Aldebaran Robotics and specially programmed by MIT’s Patrick Bechon and Jean-Jacques Slotine. They will make use of a process known as quorum sensing in order to synchronize themselves. That sounds all Greek to me, so let me simplify it – in the natural world, quorum sensing is what happens when bacteria emit molecules into the environment in order for individuals to keep track of the number of organisms that are around them, as well as their activity at that point in time. Robots, of course, cannot emit molecules, but they sure as heck can send out data, enabling them to synchronize with one another.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Robots
Tags: Robot