British Science Festival 2021 Award Lecture for Digital Innovation: Robot Swarms

What can a flock of birds, a school of fish or a colony of ants teach us about the future of robotics? The swarm behaviours we see throughout our natural environment may seem a world away from the neatly-defined, programmable domain of robots and robotics. However, engineer, Edmund Hunt from the University of Bristol, believes that the way in which biological swarms organise themselves, may hold the key to exciting advances in digital technology. Find out what the ability to design self-organised robotic swarm systems that are scalable, flexible, and robust could one day mean for human societies and our ability to monitor and protect the planet.