Small swarming robots get big funding
A couple developing small swarming robots at the University of Wyoming has received a $100,000 grant to continue their work. The robots are being designed to perform tasks like helping to clean up oil spills or respond to a terrorist attack. One of the researchers, Diana Spears, said that "Somebody from the National Science Foundation came out here and said we had the best robotics work he'd ever seen." The robots are apparently unique in a number of ways, including being programmed using theories based on fluid dynamics, as well a theory developed by Diana Spears' husband, William, that determines how the robots travel in formation. The couple hopes to have an operational system ready in about a year.
[Via Yahoo! News]
