Electronicdesign 9401 Bionicantpromo
Electronicdesign 9401 Bionicantpromo
Electronicdesign 9401 Bionicantpromo
Electronicdesign 9401 Bionicantpromo
Electronicdesign 9401 Bionicantpromo

Bionic Ants on the March

April 7, 2015
What can you do with 3D printers? How about making a bunch of BionicANTs.

Festo provides a range of industrial control and automation products including robotics. It also does a good bit of research in this area as well. One of the latest things to crawl out of the labs is Festo’s BionicANTs.

​Watch “3D Printed Robotic Ants Work Together to Solve Tasks” curated by Engineering TV, below:

The robots are created using 3D-molded interconnect device (MID) technology. The laser-sintered components have conductors that are visible, adding to the artistic design of the critters. The robot’s head has a stereo camera and sensors. The six legs are powered by piezo electric motors.

The BionicANTs (autonomous networking technology) are designed to work together. They can communicate and coordinate with each other. This type of swarm robotics is an active area of study.

BionicANTs are not the only thing that we have seen from Festo. It has also been playing with birds (see “New Robot Designs Are For The Birds”). We just wonder whether the birds will be eating the ants for lunch. 

Sponsored Recommendations

Highly Integrated 20A Digital Power Module for High Current Applications

March 20, 2024
Renesas latest power module delivers the highest efficiency (up to 94% peak) and fast time-to-market solution in an extremely small footprint. The RRM12120 is ideal for space...

Empowering Innovation: Your Power Partner for Tomorrow's Challenges

March 20, 2024
Discover how innovation, quality, and reliability are embedded into every aspect of Renesas' power products.

Article: Meeting the challenges of power conversion in e-bikes

March 18, 2024
Managing electrical noise in a compact and lightweight vehicle is a perpetual obstacle

Power modules provide high-efficiency conversion between 400V and 800V systems for electric vehicles

March 18, 2024
Porsche, Hyundai and GMC all are converting 400 – 800V today in very different ways. Learn more about how power modules stack up to these discrete designs.

Comments

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Electronic Design, create an account today!