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Science & Medicine

Like termites, robots build without a central plan

These are the specially designed robots that build without a plan. The one with yellow "wheels" holds a building tile.

These are the specially designed robots that build without a plan. The one with yellow “wheels” holds a building tile.  (Eliza Grinnell / Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences)

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These robots rely on cues from their local environment to decide how to build structures. The engineers who built them took their inspiration from termites.

Robots at work

The bio-inspired robots get busy building a wall.  (Eliza Grinnell / Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences)

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