Researchers use single joystick to control swarm of RC robots | Hacker News Reader

Researchers use single joystick to control swarm of RC robots

robohub.org

27 pointseguizzo8 comments

TL;DR:

Problem: You have one remote, but a bunch of robots. You cannot address them individually; each robot will recieve every command. How do you get them into useful positions?

Solution: Each robot is slightly different from the other. if you can figure out how each one deviates from your control you may be able to use the error to create a control algorithm.

Sounds like trying to make a website look the same in all browsers. Though I suspect solving that is simply impossible :)

Reminds me a bit of the Badland mobile game... It has a powerup that clones your character many times, but they all get the same player input. You need to ensure that a certain number survive and, in certain levels, get to different goal locations. The only differentiating factor is the noise that the physics engine throws in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=BcB...

This sort of stuff is very interesting. A swarm of a few thousand small, cheap drones in a confined area like say, the Persian Gulf, could radically alter the balance of power. If you're an aircraft carrier, how do you defend yourself against that?

Ha, I've been saying for a while now that just such a thing is going to be declassified soon. My generations SR-71... equal parts beautiful and horrifying.

For the cost of one fighter jet you could have a swarm of air-to-air/land combat vehicles with semi-autonomous swarm intelligence attack and harry enemies into submission. Air supremacy would be a doddle with a drone that can pull orders of magnitude more G and react almost instantaneously compared to a manned fighter.

The last time something so disruptive came along was during the dark days of WW1 (machine gun) and WW2 (aircraft)... don't get me started on WW3... but this next one is shaping up to be a real nice specimen for our peace loving super advanced cybernetic progeny. I, for one, welcome our new overlords.

----- EDIT -----

although to actually answer your question as I think it would be an interesting thought experiment: The laser technology I've been hearing about recently has been fascinating - the pope protector, Roman Abramovic's boat, the TOF mapping devices used on automatic cars/trucks. And other technology seems to be coming of age too with microwave guns used for riot control and rail guns seem inevitable. Although unlikely to help in this situation, I don't think anyone here can begrudge me a rail gun on my hypothetical throne of warfare!?

Plus they're (relatively) cheap, it may not be a long time before wealthy individuals have the capability (if they wished) equivalent to that of the military power of a small country.

What if Exon mobile could fight its own wars?

Let's see how long it takes for a "Skynet" comment/reference :)

Looks like it took you 22 minutes? :)

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