Colony Scout Offers Cute And Useful Swarm Robots

Colony Scout is a modular robot platform designed to provide adaptable and affordable swarm robotics to anyone who wants it. Modular and adaptable means that each individual robot comes with an accessory plate to which you can bolt pretty much anything you want, including a little forklift that extends up to 6 inches, or a digger arm and bucket with a 2 pound capacity.

Besides the accessories, Colony Scout is designed to be cheap and simple. The batteries and processor are easy to access, and the basic robot includes long range sonar and short range IR sensors to allow for obstacle avoidance. Also, the two halves of the chassis are coupled with a rotating joint, allowing the robot to navigate some pretty serious bumps, even at its 2 mph top speed:
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