That's nifty. The robots are working together like ants in a colony,
with some specialization in roles. The capability of the whole swarm is
greater than that of the individual.
In my opinion, a colony of ants or bees should be though of as a single
biological entity, like an animal body.
An ant colony in the aggregate is more intelligent than individual ants.
To put it the other way, an animal body may be though to as a giant
colony of cells, plus helpful bacteria. The cells are usually in a
symbiotic or cooperative relationship with one-another, but not always,
as in the case of cancer.
Along the same lines, an airplane is defined as a collection of spare
parts flying in formation, from which parts fall off much more often
than people realize, according to aircraft maintenance people. See the
U.S. Navy acronym TFOA.
- Jed
