Swarms of robots under effective control can enhance manufacturing processes and workplace safety. Researchers from the Rice University's Multi-Robot Systems Laboratory (MRSL) have developed an innovative control algorithm that could be employed for robotic swarms. The researchers have said that the experiments conducted in the labs while developing this control algorithm could be applied to the challenges faced in the real world. While developing this algorithm, researchers have used data collected from an online video game in which robots are made to move through mazes and obstacles. During the game, the robots were also made to push or carry a large object from point to another. According to the researchers, the collected data helped them in understanding the way to control and use multirobot systems with a large population for carrying out complex tasks in a coordinated manner. These control algorithms can be implemented to robot swarms that are employed in the manufacturing industries and in the health care sector for performing various functions. In order to demonstrate the complex behavior that could be attained through simple commands, researchers videotaped the experiment that they had performed where a swarm of 12 robots were randomly scattered and were directed to a form a complex shape of capital R. For controlling and directing the robots, the researchers used a simple video game joystick that had the potential to give only two commands - rotate and roll forward.
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