A swarm of robots created these fibreglass tubes Kayser et al., Sci. Robot. 3, eaau5630 (2018)
Dozens of spiral tubes emerged from the ground overnight, constructed like giant cocoons. These weren’t created by nature, but by a swarm of silkworm-inspired robots called Fiberbots. These robots could one day help build bridges or buildings.
Each Fiberbot is a 30-centimetre-tall cylinder with a thin arm sticking out from the top. To build a tube, the robot’s arm winds fibreglass thread around its body. After creating an 8-centimetre long segment, Fiberbot then crawls forward to build the next section.
As constructions…
