Could robots doing a "bee dance" save lives?

Robots typically communicate over digital networks. But what happens when these fail, as in an emergency or in remote locations?

If you've ever been in a noisy environment, such as a factory floor, you've probably noticed that humans are very good at communicating through gestures. But we're not the only ones that do this. Honeybees, in fact, take nonverbal communication to a whole new level.

The honeybees' waggle dance is used to tell other bees where the food is in relation to the hive and the sun, and the duration tells them how far away it is. It is a simple but effective method of communicating complex geographical coordinates.

A new study published in Frontiers in Robotics and AI drew inspiration from this technique to develop a method for robots to communicate. The approach could be extremely useful in situations where robot labor is required but network communications are unreliable, such as in a disaster zone, or in space.

The researchers created a visual communication system for robots equipped with onboard cameras, employing algorithms that allow the robots to interpret what they see. Multiple robots can work together to coordinate and finish difficult jobs. The first robot traces a shape on the floor, and the orientation of the shape, as well as the time it takes to trace it, inform the second robot of the required direction and distance of travel.

Scientists tested the system using a simple task, moving a package in a warehouse. The system enables a person to communicate with a "messenger robot," which supervises and teaches a "handling robot" that executes the task.
In this scenario, a human would use a gesture like a raised hand with a closed fist to communicate with the messenger robot which identifies the motion using an on-board camera and skeletal tracking algorithms.

The handling robot receives this information from the messenger robot after the human has shown it where the package is located. In order to do this, it must move in front of the handling robot and trace a particular pattern on the ground. As before, the shape's orientation shows the necessary direction of travel, and the time it takes to trace it indicates the required distance.

Alone, the robots correctly interpreted the gestures 90% of the time. They scored 93.3% when paired with humans. This method depends on robot vision through a simple camera, and therefore it is compatible with robots of various sizes and configurations and is scalable.

Bio-Inspired Vision and Gesture-Based Robot-Robot Interaction for Human-Cooperative Package Delivery - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/...

Other YouTube Videos to Watch on the bee “waggle” dance (used in the video)
   • Round and Waggle Dance   NC State Extension
   • Honey bee waggle dancing   The BeeGroup @ VT
   • The Waggle Dance  | Inside the Animal...   BBC

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