Robots Mimic Ant Colony Behavior

Robot swarms can mimic how ant colonies navigate complex mazes relatively mindlessly, researchers have found — knowledge that could help to improve designs for manmade transportation networks.

Scientists are fascinated by ant colonies because they can form collectives called "superorganisms" that function as single organisms do. Investigation into how ants behave has revealed more about how such group behavior arises, and some researchers are using that knowledge to help build smarter robot swarms, said Simon Garnier, a scientist who studies animal behavior at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Read more...