Tiny Swarm Robots Boost Mining Efficiency
What comes to mind when you think about the types of robots that are involved in mining? For most people, it’s probably big autonomous trucks that are used for hauling, or robotic drilling and blasting systems that clear earth out of the way. However, these big, impressive machines are not the only ones that have a place in the field. There are also tiny robots that scurry about to make mining safer and more efficient.
A particularly interesting system of this sort was just described by a trio of researchers at the University of Adelaide. Instead of focusing on massive industrial equipment, the team explored how groups of inexpensive swarm robots could cooperate to transport ore more efficiently. Their work borrows ideas from nature, specifically the foraging behaviors of leafcutter ants and honeybees, to determine whether decentralized robots can outperform more conventional approaches in simplified mining scenarios.
Testing was carried...
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