Xerox PARC Working On Modular Robots

An reader writes "I was watching Discovery Channel Canada last night, and they had a story about modular robotics that is being researched at Xerox PARC. Rather than build a single, large robot, project leader Mark Yim is working on small, autonomous bots that can work together to achieve a desired goal. When many of this bots are linked together, they call the result a polybot. "

Comments

shoot, that ain't new

[blonde rser]

doesn't anybody remember the constructicon devastator... the first polybot

Do those robots assemble into cars?

[Matthias Wiesmann]

Sounds a lot like those transformer toys where you assemble many small robots to get one big robot. It would be funny to have those small bots assemble to make car or trucks, or aircrafts.

Will Bandai or another of the compagnies that built those toys sue those guys? I suppose someone has already patented the idea of Robot changing into transportation mean.

Bots in Socks...

[Squirrel Killer]

"When many of this bots are linked together, they call the result a polybot."

With apologies to Dr. Seuss...

What do you know about polybots? Well...

When polybots fight,
it's called a polybottle battle.

And when they battle in a puddle,
it's a polybottle puddle battle.

AND when polybottles battle with paddles in a puddle,
they call it a polybottle puddle paddle battle.

AND...

When polybots battle polybots in a puddle paddle battle
and the polybot battle puddle is a puddle in a bottle...
...they call this a polybottle bottle puddle paddle battle muddle.

AND...

When polybottles fight these battles in a bottle with their paddles
and the bottle's on a poodle and the poodle's eating noodles...
...they call this a muddle puddle poly poodle bottle noodle
bottle paddle battle.