It
might be nightmares for some while ‘advancement’ for others as, ‘Festo’, a
German based global industrial control and automation engineering firm have
just found out replacements for the modern day factory workers. The most
interesting fact though is this future replacements are nothing but Ants, yes
an army of artificially intelligent cyborg ants, synthetic critters that are
smart enough to work together for a common goal.
Known
as ‘Bionic ants’, these 5 inches long, 6 inches wide and 1.5 inches tall smart
creatures can even cope-up with fluctuating production demands and increase
their working rate accordingly in order to meet higher increasing demands in
less time. The coolest part of all is that they can wirelessly talk basic
things to each other like ‘what’s up’ (talking frequently won’t make them bored
while working).
As
we all know Ants have been used to teach us the virtues of hard work, a fact
not lost on the engineers at ‘Festo’. The German based company’s primary aim
for building this project was to “demonstrate how autonomous individual
components can solve a complex problem together, working together as an overall
networked system”. These lithium battery-powered ‘Bionic ants’ are genetically
engineered to work together for solving complex problems and shared common
vision to reach a particular goals and last but not the least to be ‘cooperative’
for the greater good of the society.
These
complex build algorithmic-controlled ‘bionic ants’ are equipped with a bulbous
plastic abdomen, six strong jointed legs, two antennae, serrated pincers and
faces that appears to be grinning. The bodies of these smart creatures are made
up of lightweight polyamide in order to make them bulky and the circuitry was
3-D printed in order to study the structure of its operation.
How
these Synthetic Ants will work?
These
ANTS (Autonomous Networking technology) is a very advance mode of technical
stuff but the working model of the ants is not as complex-able as it looks. The
two pincers sticking out from their heads will allow them to pick up, drag and
drop small objects and to recharge they should simply put their antennae
feelers against a charging station. Smart, right?
Well,
these genetically engineered Ants are not just for sales yet, but their
importance in the industrial society is certainly intriguing and have left us
with many questions, most important one of which is “ Will Bionic Ants replace
the modern day Human factory workers”? What you think?
/Anuttam/
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