A simulated swarm of three dozen autonomous robots explore and map a complex home environment.

Swarm robotics is a relatively new field of research with a focus on mutually interacting, self-organizing robots that collectively achieve tasks solely through the use of decentralized local mechanisms. The idea is borrowed from biological systems, such as social insects, which show robust and adaptive collective intelligence. Compared to traditional robotic solutions, swarm robotics holds promise of providing more reliable and cost-effective solutions to various complex problems due to its distributed nature and decreased per-unit cost.

For more information, see:
http://coco.binghamton.edu
http://www.joshbrandoff.com
http://www.abotics.com

Background music available under Creative Commons license:
http://www.archive.org/details/ek_Ants