If you think Terminator-style robots are what you should be worrying about, then you might want to think again.
Researchers in the U.S. have recently created a swarm of powerful 2mm ants that can be individually controlled using a central computer.
The army of ‘robo-ants’ are incredibly fast in comparison to their size and can move at around 13.7 inches (35cm) a second.
This, according to a report in IEEE, is equivalent speed of a ‘human running at slightly under Mach 1’ – or just under the speed of sound.
The ants, named ‘Magnetically Actuated Micro-Robots’, have been designed to build tiny things on tiny scales, such as artificial cell structures or electrical circuits.
While magnetically controlled robots aren’t new, the ability to control them independently has previously stumped engineers.
Ant army: Researchers in the U.S. have recently created a swarm of powerful 2mm ants that can be individually controlled using a central computer
ROBO-ANTS MOVE ‘LIKE A COLONY’
In a separate study last year, researchers created ant-like machines that they claim move in the same way as a real colony.
The tiny cubes were equipped with two watch motors to power the wheels that enable them to move.
By being programmed simply to move forward toward and avoid obstacles, the robot colony were able to find the fastest way through a network or maze – just like ants.
Simon Garnier from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, explained that the robots leave a trail that the others follow. Instead of hemicals – or pheromones – left by real ants, the robots leave a trail of light.
This is because an external magnetic field affects all of the systems close to it in the same way.
Californian group SRI overcame this problem by controlling the robo-ants on circuit boards that contain specific electrical patterns to keep magnetic fields localised.
The ants have been shown to move rapidly on curved surfaces, up and down walls, as well as on flexible materials in any direction.
According to SRI, the technology can be used to ‘reliably control thousands of micro-robots for smart manufacturing of macro-scale products in compact, integrated systems.’
The robots are part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s open manufacturing programme which hopes to lower the cost and speed of creating high-quality goods.
The army of robo-ants has already built a tower 30 cm (11.8 inches) high from carbon rods. The researchers claim they can also work with glass, metal, wood, and electronic components.
Imitating nature: Like real ants (right), the robo-ants (left) have been shown to move rapidly on curved surfaces, up and down walls, as well as on flexible materials in any direction
Muscle machines: The army of robo-ants has already built a tower 30 cm (11.8 inches) high from carbon rods (pictured). The researchers claim they can also work with glass, metal, wood, and electronic components
STUDY CLAIMS HUMANS WILL COMPETE WITH DROIDS FOR JOBS BY 2040
By 2040, cabs will be driven by Google robots, shops will become showrooms for online outlets and call centres will be staffed by intelligent droids.
That’s the scenario depicted in recent research which suggests robots could be taking over our lives and jobs in less than 30 years.
The competition for work caused by a rise in the robots population will see us heading to surgeons for ‘additional processing power for our brains’, they claim.
We may also be requesting bionic implants for our hands that will make us able to perform tasks as fast as any machine.
Futurologists, commissioned by global job search website xpatjobs.com, say workers will have less job security and will work more unsociable hours.
Those who take these risks and innovate with their own bodies will be the biggest earners in 2040, they claim.
However, the study added that workers may be left with poor eyesight, smaller sexual organs, and constantly-furrowed brows as they struggle to keep up to life in the 21st century.
