Pheromone Robotics

An Anonymous Coward writes: "This is the official text I just came across: "The HRL Pheromone Robotics program aims to provide a robust, scalable approach for coordinating actions of large numbers of small scale robots to achieve large scale results in surveillance, reconnaissance, hazard detection, path finding, payload conveyance, and small-scale actuation." But it's the spooky image that grabbed *me*..." Here's some more on the pheromone-sniffing robots pictured, and some more information about making robots that hunt in packs. The page has not been updated for a while, but it's worth seeing.

Comments

Makes a certain amount of sense...

[HiredMan]

Ants are very simple creatures that working collectively in groups to accomplish fairly complicated tasks using mostly smell.

Modeling behavior along these lines and allowing simple creatures to relay very simple state messages with each robot repeating it to others would allow behavior and information to be propagated and acted on even in hostile situations. (Only short range communication is possible for instance.)
ie If the robots are searching for something and one finds the target it could alert the others around it and they could repeat the message and alter their behavior accordingly - if required. Eventually the alert would filter across all robots and reach "home" at which point a response could be propagated back to the successful creature the same way.

If your creatures are too simple there are limitations, however. If you put certain acids on ants other ants will assume they're dead - the smell trigger - and carry them to "dead ant" pile even if they're struggling. The "un-dead" ant will be carried back to the dead ant pile repeatedly until the smell wears off.

=tkk

Ultimate defense system

[CrazyJim0]

Basically its a ton of cameras.

Use visual recognition to detect stuff like troop movements....
Or just use cameras+ human watching + set coordinates already.

Picture vietnam movies, with the guy radioing for a mortar strike.

Now picture no one in harm's way, but the cameras and coordinates for mortar strikes are at Mr. God's hands.

Later: Camera + visual recognition = Missle Guidence system

Later: Camera + High powered AA guns + some elementary physics = anti aircraft guns

But here's the kicker... If you network ALL the cameras, so you know information everywhere, then you can calculate things better...

Its like automagic driven cars, the more networked, the more you see around JOE BOB in his big ol truck... Because of networking alerts you to whats around it... The more you know.

BEAM Robotics

[mgandhi2]

The idea for the pack hunter sounds like a basic neural network with BEAM robotics. You can get a fairly good idea what BEAM(Biological, Electronic, Aesthetic, and Mechanical) is all about at http://www.solarbotics.net .
Basically, the philosophy of BEAM is that all robotics can be made from imitating the form of nature, and all can be made from the same basic components. You start by replicating single cell organisms and insects, and eventually progress to neural networks. The cool thing about BEAM robots is that they're entirely automated. You don't have to program their behavior, they works by "instinct."
If you want to make your own BEAM robots, just read some of the tutorials on http://www.solarbotics.net . Just don't be tempted to start with a complex robot. The idea behind BEAM robotics is to start simple, and work to complex. All you will need to start is a basic understanding of electronics and some cheap electronic components, which can usually be found at RadioShack(or by tearing apart old household appliances.)