The Kilobots use each other as reference points to build complex shapes (Picture: PA)

A Harvard research team appear to have made science fiction a reality by creating an army of miniature robots that work together to form complex shapes and symbols.

The Kilobots, designed by the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, use infra-red sensors and two motors to build a series of reference points in order to form patterns.

The miniature robots are programmed with a two-dimensional image of the target and a set of fixed rules. Four ‘seed’ bots then start the process off so the rest of the swarm can follow.

The Kilobots’ ability can be compared with starlings flocking together or ants created bridges with their bodies.




‘The beauty of biological systems is that they are elegantly simple – and yet, in large numbers, accomplish the seemingly impossible,’ said US lead scientist Professor Radhika Nagpal.

Robot self-organisation will become an increasingly important area of research (Picture: PA)

‘At some level you no longer even see the individuals; you just see the collective as an entity to itself.’

Co-author Dr Michael Rubenstein added that living things operate in this way at every level, citing the co-ordinated colour change of the cells of a cuttlefish so that it can blend into its surroundings.

And research into self-organising artificial intelligence will become increasingly important if robots are to one day co-operate, say scientists.

‘We’re going to see large numbers of robots working together, whether to achieve environmental clean up or a quick disaster response, or millions of self-driving cars on our highways,’ said Professor Nagpal.