Particle robots work as a swarm to push objects

Developed by engineers at MIT, Columbia, Cornell and Harvard, the particle robots are palm-sized discs with a series of magnetic connectors around their edges. Each of these ‘particles’ can both expand and contract, affecting the surrounding particles connected via their own magnets. This coordinated movement allows a cluster of the robots to travel in a particular direction, with onboard sensors guiding the swarm towards a light source.

Despite working in apparent harmony, none of the particles directly communicate with or rely on one another to function, so particles can be added or subtracted without any impact on the group. In a paper published in the journal Nature, the researchers described how particle robot systems could even complete tasks when several individual units malfunctioned.

“We have small robot cells that are not so capable as individuals but can accomplish a lot as a group," says Daniela Rus, director of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL).