Foundations Of Cognitive Science

Collective Intelligence and Embodiment

The robots that we have been considering up to this point have not been strongly embodied, in the sense that they do not have strong effects on their world. This week we will discuss some robots that alter their world, which permits stigmergic control to be applied, and which enables collective intelligence to emerge. We will also see that a great deal of this work involves the intersection of robotics with the study of insects, in particular the ants.