For those of you counting down to the robot uprising, you may be interested in the latest news from engineers at the Federal Institute of
Technology in Zurich. They've created autonomous robots that randomly dock with each other.
The little hexagonal modules that make up the flying drone are completely self-sufficient. In the context of a robot army, that means the airborne
robot could be indestructible. Because the magnetically connected ‘bots easily break away from each other, they could blow apart under attack, and
then reassemble themselves on the ground, good as new.
gizmodo.com...
Imagine a future where combat drone modules swarm through the air and assemble into drones before and during combat. If hit, the damaged components
of the drones are sluffed off, to be replaced by neighboring modules. . A swarm attack.
We are seeing the beginnings of this technology. . Wow!
[edit on 6/8/2010 by clay2 baraka]