Robots inspired by ants

Jean-Christophe Fauroux, founder of Mecabotix, came to GI 2024 to talk about the development of load-carrying robots known as poly-robots, inspired by ants.

The team at Toulouse-based start-up Mecabotix drew inspiration from ants, using three criteria to design their robots... The first criterion was weight... “Do you know how much an ant can lift ? Do you know how much an ant can lift ? An ant weighs about one centigram, but can lift up to 80 times its weight. By comparison, a forklift truck that lifts a ton weighs three,” explains Mecabotix founder Jean-Christophe Fauroux.  This power ratio is impressive, and that's what inspires us: to design robots capable of lifting their own weight, which is already a technical feat”. 
 
The second inspiration is the ants' ability to work in teams. “In the same way, our robots are designed to work together, hence the name poly-robots,” explains the Mecabotix founder. 
 
A final criterion is that Mecabotix is inspired by the way ants behave when they form collective structures by connecting to each other. “Our robots can also connect to each other to accomplish more complex tasks and carry heavier loads,” insists Jean-Christophe Fauroux. 

What are their applications ?

“Our poly-robots are designed to lift and move a variety of loads, from 1 gram to 1 tonne, whether pallets, crates, individual products or outsize objects such as plates or 6-metre profiles. These applications can be useful in factories, warehouses or even on building sites,” explains the founder. 
 
He continues, “Our approach is modular. Each robot operates autonomously but can also be assembled with others to perform heavier tasks. For example, a single robot can lift up to 100 kg, like a bag of cement. By combining four robots, we can lift much heavier loads, such as a one-ton pallet. Our robots can evolve according to their configuration: Bibot moves sideways and becomes omnidirectional; Tribot is capable of lifting pallets while being very compact, thus reducing aisle width in warehouses; finally, quadribot (under development) will be able to overcome obstacles and lift loads of up to one tonne”. As Jean-Christophe Fauroux explains, “Our innovation lies at the crossroads between forklift trucks and autonomous mobile robots (AMR). Our robots can be integrated into a variety of logistics environments by connecting with systems such as ERP or the Warehouse Management System (WMS). This enables optimized movement planning.