Scientists Perfect Robotic Swarm with Public's Help in Online Game (Video)

Imagine a swarm of robots that can complete complicated tasks based on the instructions that you give them. Scientists may just have created such a swarm and now, they're using the public to help perfect it. The researchers are employing five free online games to help them refine the control algorithms for robotic swarms.

The games, which are available here, involve using simple commands to move groups of robots through mazes and around obstacles. Sometimes, the goal is to push a larger object to a particular location. Other times, the goal is to move the collective to a target or to have them create some specific shape. What makes this game interesting isn't the play itself, though--it's the fact that each time it's played, the website collects information about how the task was completed, which allows the researchers to develop new control algorithms.

"The data from these games will help us better understand how to use multi-robot systems with massive populations to perform coordinated, complex tasks," said James McLurkin, one of the researchers, in a news release.

The robots themselves are r-one robots, which are part of an inexpensive yet sophisticated multi-robot system. Each bagel-sized r-one has a radio, motor, two wheels and dozens of sensors and onboard electronics. Already, the researchers have caused this swarm of robots to perform some impressive feats. They've been able to command them to form a capital R shape with a control algorithm.

"It's counterintuitive," said McLurkin in a news release. "Common sense would seem to indicate that you'd need to issue individual commands to each robot to move the group into complex patterns, but that is not the case. The beauty of the algorithm is that each simple move brings the entire group closer to the goal."

The researchers don't just plan to use the robots to make shapes, though. The long germ goal is for hundreds or thousands of these robots to perform complex tasks. Currently, the algorithm is slow. Data from the games should help design new control algorithms that are as much as 200 times faster.

Want to see the robots moving for yourself? Check out the video below, courtesy of YouTube.