The Terminator introduced us to the concept of self-healing robots that could think for themselves. But that was science fiction. In real life the robots will still think for themselves – and come in swarms.

Researchers trying to develop the next generation of intelligent machines believe that the key to successful robotics may be to create hundreds of tiny robots linked together that could be sent into situations that are too dangerous for human beings.They could, for example, be used in search-and-rescue or be put in exposed positions to monitor volcanoes.

Scientists from ten European institutions, including Bristol and the West of England universities, have been given €10 million of EU funding for the five-year Symbrion project, which aims to create a robot boasting many of the attributes of Terminator, but without the extreme homicidal tendencies.

By having hundreds of tiny robots about the size of a golf ball, each with the data-handling capacity of a mobile phone, a swarm should have the intelligence of a much larger robot. But it would be much more flexible because it could change shape to fit the circumstances and be able to increase or reduce the number of components as required. Damaged units could easily be discarded and replaced cheaply so operators would not have to taking an expensive larger robot in for servicing.

Professor Alan Winfield, of UWE, compared the idea of a swarm of robots to ant and bee colonies where thriving organisms are formed out of many individuals. “Not only will they cooperate, but they will self-assemble and self-organise into artificial organisms with a capability far greater than the sum of their parts. It’s state of the art.”

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