A team of engineers are building insect-sized robot swarms that could be used to explore space

A team of engineers at California State University, Northridge are developing swarms of tiny, insect-sized robots that could help make exploring other planets safer and more efficient. Led by mechanical engineering professor Nhut Ho, the team was just awarded a $538,000 grant from the US Department of Defense to further develop their miniature robotic space explorers. The longterm goal is to create autonomous swarms of small robots that can move across the surface of other planets to collect samples and complete tasks that might otherwise be too complicated for a rover, or too risky for a human astronaut. 'We were inspired by the behaviors that we see in swarms of ants and bees that self-organize, create clever solutions for different tasks, work in groups of different sizes and have the ability to complete the tasks even when members fail,' Ho told CSU Northridge's news blog. Ho's team will collaborate on the project with another group from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which recently won a DARPA competition for autonomous robots completing reconnaissance and search and rescue operations in a simulated disaster area.