[FPSPACE] New Artificial Organism with Advanced Group Intelligence

[LARRY KLAES]

New Artificial Organism with Advanced Group Intelligence: A Swarm of 10,000 
Miniature Robots

Remember Michael Crichton's science-fiction novel, "Prey"? Well,  
researchers at the University of York are investigating large swarms of up 
to 10,000 miniature robots which can work together to form a single, 
artificial life form. The multi-robot approach to artificial intelligence is 
a relatively new one, and has developed from studies of the swarm behavior 
of social insects such as ants.

Swarm robotics is a field of study based on the supposition that simple, 
individual robots can interact and collaborate to form a single artificial 
organism with more advanced group intelligence.

As a part of an international collaboration dubbed the "Symbiotic 
Evolutionary Robot Organisms" project, or "Symbrion" for short, researchers 
are developing an artificial immune system which can protect both the 
individual robots that form part of a swarm, as well as the larger, 
collective organism.

The aim of the project is to develop the novel principles behind the ways in 
which robots can evolve and work together in large 'swarms' so that - 
eventually - these can be applied to real-world applications. The swarms of 
robots are capable of forming themselves into a 'symbiotic artificial 
organism' and collectively interacting with the physical world using 
sensors.

Full article here:

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2008/03/swarm-robotics.html