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Just as single cells can assemble into complex, multicellular organisms like a starfish (left), individual Kilobots -- extremely simple robots, each just a few centimeters across, that stand on three, pin-like legs -- can follow simple rules to autonomously assemble into predetermined shapes (right).
In this instance, a computer scientist has given a command simultaneously to the swarm of 1,024 Kilobots to "form a sea-star shape." Once the Kilobots receive the command, which is sent via infrared light, they begin to blink at one another and gradually arrange themselves into a specified shape (in this instance, a five-pointed star).Image credit: Michael Rubenstein, Harvard University
