Robot simulates herd

US scientists have designed and tested baby robots, which behave like an ant colony along the way.

The little robot is not like ants, it's a two-wheeled cube that moves. They behave like ants while walking forward, aiming at the goal, avoiding obstacles, finding the fastest way or passing through the maze.

Simon Garnier, head of the research group at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, led the team, who said the robot's behavioral anatomy of memory and memory was limited. Tests show that in the path through a small maze, each robot moves randomly and may even lose track, but they can communicate with each other. In fact, biology leaves traces of chemo or pheromone to the team to detect, the robot leaves a trace of light.

To do this, researchers have set up cameras to track the paths of each robot. A projector connects to the camera to create a steady light position along the route of the robot. This light will be brighter when other robots also pass on the same route.

Dr. Garnier explains that each robot has two antennae, like the two antennas on the head that contain the light sensor, when they turn left or right, the light will project on their way. This optical mechanism is similar to the chemical mechanism of ants. As a result, the robot simulates the ant's navigation skills as a 'positive feedback loop'.

Ants can go from A to B in two different ways, but if you choose longer time then it is the pheromone that will show the ants the way to follow the shorter path. Robots also know how to distinguish light from previous robots.

According to the BBC, scientists have created an algorithm that optimizes paths in the way ants work to be applied to telecommunication networks.