Termites work together to construct a nest
Drones and robots could build and repair future cities, but only if they can work together ' by copying the tactics of nature. A new review, published today in Science Robotics and co-authored by Imperial researcher Dr Mirko Kovac , who directs the Aerial Robotics Laboratory in the Department of Aeronautics, looks at the state-of-the-art in robot construction and where we need to go next to make a robot-built environment a reality. It comes as the UKRI has announced £18m in funding to support digital transformation of the construction industry, of which Dr Kovac is a cooperating investigator on a project with UCL where his group will explore robotic platform solutions for collective robotic construction. Nature provides ample proof that such collective construction is possible, and by applying some of these ideas to how drones are constructed, operated and made to cooperate, we could make this dream a reality. Dr Mirko Kovac The world is increasingly urban, and the researchers say that robots could be the perfect tools to help build and maintain new cities. Using robots should reduce human risk, allow tasks to be completed faster, and allow monitoring alongside construction - the robots could collect data on everything they are doing, helping to improve their practices. Dr Kovac said: "The cities of the future could be built and maintained by groups of land-based and flying robots working together to construct, assess, and repair the urban ecosystem of buildings and infrastructure.
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