Swarm construction: ant-inspired processes for teams of building robots

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Construction and manufacturing can be dangerous, wasteful industries—prime candidates for automation by teams of mobile robot builders. However, our understanding of how to program robots for teamwork is limited. This project aims to understand how colonies of weaver ants build complex nest structures, using novel 3D-imaging and ant tracking techniques. The anticipated outcomes of the project are i) a framework for how individual-level behaviour drives structure-level outcomes, applicable to many complex systems, and ii) novel software and hardware for robot swarms that can 3D-print structures using ant inspired teamwork strategies. Benefits of the project include new construction technologies that are safer, greener, cheaper and faster.