{"647065":{"#nid":"647065","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Simple Robots, Smart Algorithms: Meet the BOBbots","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAnyone with children knows that while controlling one child can be hard, controlling many at once can be nearly impossible. Getting swarms of robots to work collectively can be equally challenging, unless researchers carefully choreograph their interactions \u0026mdash; like planes in formation \u0026mdash; using increasingly sophisticated components and algorithms. But what can be reliably accomplished when the robots on hand are simple, inconsistent, and lack sophisticated programming for coordinated behavior?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA team of researchers led by \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/people\/dana-randall\u0022\u003EDana Randall\u003C\/a\u003E, ADVANCE Professor of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EComputing\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/daniel-goldman\u0022\u003EDaniel Goldman\u003C\/a\u003E, Dunn Family Professor of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EPhysics\u003C\/a\u003E, sought to show that even the simplest of robots can still accomplish tasks well beyond the capabilities of one, or even a few, of them. The goal of accomplishing these tasks with what the team dubbed \u0026quot;dumb robots\u0026quot; (essentially mobile granular particles) exceeded their expectations, and the researchers report being able to remove all sensors, communication, memory and computation \u0026mdash; and instead accomplishing a set of tasks through leveraging the robots\u0026#39; physical characteristics, a trait that the team terms \u0026quot;task embodiment.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe team\u0026#39;s simple BOBbots, or \u0026quot;behaving, organizing, buzzing bots\u0026quot; were named for granular physics pioneer Bob Behringer,\u0026quot; explains Randall. \u0026quot;Their cylindrical chassis have vibrating brushes underneath and loose magnets on their periphery, causing them to spend more time at locations with more neighbors.\u0026quot; The experimental platform was supplemented by precise computer simulations led by Georgia Tech physics student \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/crablab.gatech.edu\/pages\/people\/index.html#\u0022\u003EShengkai Li\u003C\/a\u003E, as a way to study aspects of the system inconvenient to study in the lab.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDespite the simplicity of the BOBbots, the researchers discovered that, as the robots move and bump into each other, \u0026quot;compact aggregates form that are capable of collectively clearing debris that is too heavy for one alone to move,\u0026quot; according to Goldman. \u0026quot;While most people build increasingly complex and expensive robots to guarantee coordination, we wanted to see what complex tasks could be accomplished with very simple robots.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETheir work, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/advances.sciencemag.org\/content\/7\/17\/eabe8494\/tab-article-info\u0022\u003Eas reported April 23, 2021 in the journal \u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/advances.sciencemag.org\/content\/7\/17\/eabe8494\/tab-article-info\u0022\u003EScience Advances\u003C\/a\u003E,\u003C\/em\u003E was inspired by a theoretical model of particles moving around on a chessboard. A theoretical abstraction known as a self-organizing particle system was developed to rigorously study a mathematical model of the BOBbots. Using ideas from probability theory, statistical physics and stochastic algorithms, the researchers were able to prove that the theoretical model undergoes a phase change as the magnetic interactions increase \u0026mdash; abruptly changing from dispersed to aggregating in large, compact clusters, similar to phase changes we see in common everyday systems, like water and ice.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;The rigorous analysis not only showed us how to build the BOBbots, but also revealed an inherent robustness of our algorithm that allowed some of the robots to be faulty or unpredictable,\u0026quot; notes Randall, who also serves as a professor of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/scs.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003Ecomputer science\u003C\/a\u003E and adjunct professor of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/math.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003Emathematics\u003C\/a\u003E at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe collaboration is based on experiments and simulations also designed by Bahnisikha Dutta, Ram Avinery and Enes Aydin from Georgia Tech, as well as on theoretical work by Andrea Richa and Joshua Daymude from Arizona State University, and Sarah Cannon from Claremont McKenna College, who is a recent Georgia Tech graduate.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis work is part of a Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) funded by the Army Research Office (ARO) to study the foundations of emergent computation and collective intelligence.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EFunding: This work was supported by the Department of Defense under MURI award no. W911NF-19-1-0233 and by NSF awards DMS-1803325 (S.C.); CCF-1422603, CCF-1637393, and CCF-1733680 (A.W.R.); CCF-1637031 and CCF-1733812 (D.R. and D.I.G.); and CCF-1526900 (D.R.).\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis story was first published on \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.eurekalert.org\/pub_releases\/2021-04\/giot-srs042321.php\u0022\u003EEurekAlert!\u003C\/a\u003E by Georgia Tech.\u0026nbsp; \u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EInspired by a theoretical model of particles moving around on a chessboard, new robot swarm research led by Georgia Tech shows that, as magnetic interactions increase, dispersed \u0026ldquo;dumb robots\u0026rdquo; can abruptly gather in large, compact clusters to accomplish complex tasks. Researchers report that these \u0026ldquo;BOBbots\u0026rdquo; (behaving, organizing, buzzing bots) are also capable of collectively clearing debris that is too heavy for one alone to move, thanks to a robust algorithm.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Inspired by a theoretical model of particles moving around on a chessboard, new robot swarm research shows that, as magnetic interactions increase, dispersed \u201cdumb robots\u201d \u2014 dubbed BOBbots \u2014 can gather in compact clusters to accomplish complex tasks."}],"uid":"34528","created_gmt":"2021-04-29 18:33:03","changed_gmt":"2021-06-28 15:18:33","author":"jhunt7","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-04-29T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2021-04-29T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"647117":{"id":"647117","type":"image","title":"A collection of \u0022BOBbots\u0022 in motion (Credit: Shengkai Li, Georgia Tech)","body":null,"created":"1620059861","gmt_created":"2021-05-03 16:37:41","changed":"1620059861","gmt_changed":"2021-05-03 16:37:41","alt":"","file":{"fid":"245680","name":"bobots.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bobots.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bobots.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":550430,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/bobots.jpg?itok=OWOlQWve"}},"647113":{"id":"647113","type":"image","title":"When sensors, communication, memory and computation are removed from a group of simple robots, certain sets of complex tasks can still be accomplished by leveraging the robots\u0027 physical characteristics (Credit: Shengkai Li, Georgia Tech) ","body":null,"created":"1620059371","gmt_created":"2021-05-03 16:29:31","changed":"1620059371","gmt_changed":"2021-05-03 16:29:31","alt":"","file":{"fid":"245676","name":"bobotsjpg.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bobotsjpg.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bobotsjpg.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":106207,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/bobotsjpg.jpeg?itok=IpvEZzUM"}},"647116":{"id":"647116","type":"image","title":"Shengkai Li, a graduate student in physics at Georgia Tech, with two BOBbots (Credit: Shengkai Li)","body":null,"created":"1620059725","gmt_created":"2021-05-03 16:35:25","changed":"1620059925","gmt_changed":"2021-05-03 16:38:45","alt":"","file":{"fid":"245679","name":"20210423_150721 Shengkai Li BOBbots.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/20210423_150721%20Shengkai%20Li%20BOBbots.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/20210423_150721%20Shengkai%20Li%20BOBbots.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":575380,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/20210423_150721%20Shengkai%20Li%20BOBbots.jpg?itok=LSA-2WuA"}},"647115":{"id":"647115","type":"image","title":"Dana Randall, Daniel Goldman, and Bahnisikha Dutta work together on creating magnetic robots. This photo was taken in 2019 at Georgia Tech as part of a previous research study (Credit: Allison Carter, Georgia Tech)","body":null,"created":"1620059565","gmt_created":"2021-05-03 16:32:45","changed":"1620059565","gmt_changed":"2021-05-03 16:32:45","alt":"","file":{"fid":"245678","name":"19C10200-P34-015.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/19C10200-P34-015.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/19C10200-P34-015.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":404260,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/19C10200-P34-015.jpg?itok=8OnbpP1t"}},"647114":{"id":"647114","type":"image","title":"Bahnisikha Dutta, a graduate student at Georgia Tech, is part of an interdisciplinary research team that creates and studies magnetic robots (Credit: Allison Carter, Georgia Tech)","body":null,"created":"1620059504","gmt_created":"2021-05-03 16:31:44","changed":"1620059504","gmt_changed":"2021-05-03 16:31:44","alt":"","file":{"fid":"245677","name":"19C10200-P34-006.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/19C10200-P34-006.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/19C10200-P34-006.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":463229,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/19C10200-P34-006.jpg?itok=5LqG1AUd"}},"647118":{"id":"647118","type":"image","title":"Sarah Cannon, Georgia Tech alumna and assistant professor in the Mathematics Department of Mathematical Sciences at Claremont McKenna College, with Dana Randall (Credit: Georgia Tech)","body":null,"created":"1620060846","gmt_created":"2021-05-03 16:54:06","changed":"1620060846","gmt_changed":"2021-05-03 16:54:06","alt":"","file":{"fid":"245681","name":"Headshot-credit-Georgia-Tech-from-left-Sarah-Cannon-and-Dana-Randall.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Headshot-credit-Georgia-Tech-from-left-Sarah-Cannon-and-Dana-Randall.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Headshot-credit-Georgia-Tech-from-left-Sarah-Cannon-and-Dana-Randall.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":78599,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Headshot-credit-Georgia-Tech-from-left-Sarah-Cannon-and-Dana-Randall.jpg?itok=QSUl5bqM"}}},"media_ids":["647117","647113","647116","647115","647114","647118"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.eurekalert.org\/pub_releases\/2021-04\/giot-srs042321.php","title":"EurekAlert!: Simple Robots, Smart Algorithms "}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"1279","name":"School of Mathematics"}],"categories":[{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"47881","name":"Dan Goldman"},{"id":"10467","name":"Dana Randall"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"654","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"7448","name":"aggregate"},{"id":"187723","name":"Shengkai Li"},{"id":"187724","name":"BOBbots"},{"id":"2352","name":"robots"},{"id":"168854","name":"School of Mathematics"},{"id":"187725","name":"robot swarm"},{"id":"187726","name":"mobile granular particles"},{"id":"187727","name":"self-organizing particle system"},{"id":"126571","name":"go-PetitInstitute"},{"id":"187423","name":"go-bio"},{"id":"173647","name":"_for_math_site_"},{"id":"187023","name":"go-data"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"},{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/jess@cos.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJess Hunt-Ralston\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDirector of Communicaitons\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/tracey.reeves@gatech.edu\u0022\u003ETracey A. Reeves\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAssociate Vice President for Research and Academic Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nInstitute Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jess@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}