FROM THE NEST | SPRING 2024 | 5 CHRISTA NEU In nature, swarms can accomplish amazing things: Schools of fish can more efficiently find food and migrate; flocks of birds can confuse predators; bees, ants and termites can work together to feed, defend and build their colonies. Robotics researchers have long tried to harness this ability to explore environments, capture objects and build structures using robot swarms. But how to efficiently control all those robots can prove problematic, said David Saldaña, who leads Lehigh’s SwarmsLab. Saldaña and his team hypothesize that if the robots are connected—like ants that use their bodies to form a bridge for others in the colony to traverse—they may be easier to control, especially in challenging conditions. In time, they said, the drones could be used for tasks such as deliveries to remote areas affected by natural disasters or in search-and-rescue efforts. “In our lab, we don’t buy robots, we make robots,” said Saldaña, who received a $755,000 grant from the Office of Naval Research to design aerial swarms and develop control methods. “And since the robots we’re using don’t exist anywhere else, we have to push the boundary in control theory.” The Competition The team has been working on three types of physical connectors to measure the robots’ effectiveness in grabbing and transporting objects. It was able to test its prototypes during the Fall 2023 semester at a bi-annual Defend the Republic drone competition, held for the first time at Lehigh. Seven other universities also competed, with Lehigh making it to the final round. The competition in High Bay C on the Mountaintop Campus illuminated the goals in Lehigh’s Strategic Plan, Inspiring the Future Makers, which outlines a bold vision for addressing societal challenges, innovating in academics and research, and cultivating collaborations to build community and amplify Lehigh’s impact. Lehigh also aims to transform the Mountaintop Campus into a vital resource for the community. —Christine Fennessy SCAN CODE TO VIEW HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE DRONE COMPETITION ACADEMICS Do Physical Connections Improve the Control of Robot Swarms? Prototypes are put to the test in a Defend the Republic drone competition held at Lehigh for the first time.
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