TERMES

TERMESTERMITE INSPIRED ROBOTS THAT CAN BUILD FOR US…

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CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION2. INSPIRATION3. CONSTRUCTORS OF THE FUTURE4. APPLICATION5. SPECIFICATIONS6. KEY IDEA 7. ADVANTAGES8. REFERANCES

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1. INTRODUCTION

Human construction projects are generally centrally planned.

People in leadership roles supervise how everything is put together, and builders aware of the overall progress.

But termites and other animals go about building in a different way, working independently.

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Collectively, the insects can create a mound much larger than themselves.

“They do all of their coordination indirectly, by changing their shared environment.” - Justim Werfel

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2. INSPIRATIONThis is a six meter walk-in solid

timber structure made up by the namibian termite mounds.

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INTERNATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL AT LONDON

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3. CONSTRUCTORS OF THE FUTURE

The first thing that comes to mind when you think about termites is probably their destructive nature.However, instead of tearing down foundations, these robots are designed to construct structures instead.

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ROBOT(NAMED KALI) BUILDING STAIRS

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4. APPLICATIONS

For construc

tion projects that are

too dangero

us for humans such as:

• UNDERWATER RESEARCH STATIONS.

• OUTER SPACE CONSTRUCTION.

• BUILDING LEVEES OUT OF SANDBAGS IN FLOOD ZONES.

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5. ROBOT’S SPECIFICATIONSThese robots are small : 4.7 inches high.

Footprint of about 4 * 7 inches.

Weight of each robot : 4.5 – 4.7 kilograms.

The “bricks” that they can manipulate are made of expanded urethane foam.• Size bigger than these critters : 8.5 * 8.5 * 2

inches.

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6. KEY IDEA

Robots obtain information about where bricks have been attached only through direct inspection.

They have four types of sensors, a pattern recognition system , acomposed of seven infrared sensors, can detect black and white patterns on the bricks and helps with navigation.In addition to tactile sensing, the robots have a pattern recognition system, an accelerometer to sense tilt, and five ultrasound sonar units to detect other robots and help maintain distance from the perimeter of the structure.

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7. ADVANTAGESA decentralized system of robots

has some advantages over a centrally planned methd of building.

“IF HALF THE COLONY GETS EATEN BY AN AARDVARK, THE REST CAN CARRY ON.” - JUSTIN WERFEL

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Locomotion possible on different terrains as well as different structures.

Autonomous navigation. Multi robot simulation. High-Risk free constructions possible. A cheaper overview in field of

construction. Wide applications in the subject of

construction in outer space. Each unit is entirely expendable

allowing others to simply carry on the work regardless of losses.

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8. REFERANCES1. www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-260255662. www.cnn.com/2014/02/13/tech/innovation/termite-robots

-aaas3. www.stuff.co.nz/technology/gadgets/.../termites-inspire

-builder-robots4. http://

www.engineering.com/DesignerEdge/DesignerEdgeArticles/ArticleID/7169/Autonomous-Termite-Inspired-Robots-That-Build-Like-Mad.aspx

5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Termite-inspired_robots6. TERMES: An Autonomous Robotic System for Three-

Dimensional Collective Construction, Kirstin Petersen, Radhika Nagpal, Justin Werfel, Robotics: Science and Systems Conference (RSS), 2011.

7. Distributed Multi-Robot Algorithms for the TERMES 3D Collective Construction System, Justin Werfel, Kirstin Petersen, Radhika Nagpal, Workshop on Reconfigurable Modular Robotics, at IEEE/RSJ Intl. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2011.

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