Space Robot Swarm

Coming Soon: Swarms of Space Robots (+Video)

The next generation of small spacecraft will travel in packs

Kiona Smith-Strickland | May 6, 2016

In Earth orbit, a group of shoebox-size spacecraft swarms around the hull of a communication satellite, checking for damage. Further out in the solar system, a flock of glittering reflective spheres, each no bigger than a postage stamp, sweeps past an asteroid, measuring the pull of its gravity. A rain of wafer-thin circuit boards flutters down through the atmosphere of Titan, taking measurements as they fall.

"The SPHERES satellites—three round, flying vehicles about the size of volleyballs—have been demonstrating formation flying inside the station since 2006." Source: http://www.airspacemag.com/daily-planet/coming-soon-swarms-space-robots-180959020/?no-ist

"Robot swarms use collective cognition to perform tasks" (May 28, 2015) Source: http://phys.org/news/2015-05-robot-swarms-cognition-tasks.html

<more at http://www.airspacemag.com/daily-planet/coming-soon-swarms-space-robots-180959020/?no-ist; related articles and links: http://phys.org/news/2015-05-robot-swarms-cognition-tasks.html (Robot swarms use collective cognition to perform tasks. May 28, 2015) and http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/military-robots/nasa-training-swarmie-robots-for-space-mining (+Video) (NASA Training 'Swarmie' Robots for Space Mining. August 20, 2014)>