Robots, no matter how smart they are, will still need to have some sort of basic algorithms programmed into them – how they make the most of these algorithms, however, is another story altogether that should prove interesting. The Smart Pebble robots that you watch in the video above is definitely something – they can more or less group together to form a particular object. For instance, if you were to throw a wrench into a container that holds plenty of these small robots, it takes but seconds to “sense” the shape of the wrench, working together in tandem by binding up in order to form a replica of the tool. Does this mean the wrench’s moving bits and pieces will be replicated, too? I guess only to a certain extent, considering how there are parts which need to be curved or rounded, something that these cubes cannot duplicate.
Perhaps the future will see similar robots but different shapes and sizes that will form various objects with ease? Right now, the robots, while small, are still relatively large cubes at 12mm on each side, and the team behind the Smart Pebble robots intend to shrink the module down even further.
Filed in . Read more about Robot.