3D-printed robot 'ants' can link up, complete complex tasks and call for help

Ants are among the most industrious creatures on Earth, so it's only fitting that engineers would look to them for inspiration when designing small robots that can collaborate on complex tasks and maneuver through uneven territory. Engineers at University of Notre Dame created a simple but effective swarm of six-inch'robot' ants that were able to overcome obstacles and terrain individually, and link up to form longer chains when they couldn't accomplish a task alone. Each automaton was equipped with a micro-controller and a lithium polymer battery. They also had a LED light sensor at the front for alerting the swarm and magnetic touch sensors at both ends that would allow them to link up with one another. Yasemin Ozkan-Aydin, an electrical engineering professor at Notre Dame who worked on the robotic insects, told SYFY Wire she thought their best use would be in space exploration.