Swarm Robots Complete First Disaster Rescue Mission: 200 Micro-Robots Search 3 Square Kilometers in 6 Hours
EPFL's swarm robot system completed its first real-world rescue mission in earthquake-hit Turkey. 200 palm-sized robots searched 3 sq km in 6 hours, locating 17 trapped survivors.
Swarm Robots Complete First Disaster Rescue Mission: 200 Micro-Robots Search 3 Square Kilometers in 6 Hours
EPFL's Laboratory of Intelligent Systems announced on March 3 that its swarm robot system completed its first real-world rescue mission in earthquake-hit Izmir, Turkey.
The system comprises 200 palm-sized micro-robots, each weighing 350 grams, equipped with infrared thermal cameras, microphones, and wireless communication modules. The robots coordinate through decentralized algorithms without a central controller — if some robots go offline, the rest automatically adjust their search strategy.
During this mission, 200 robots searched 3 square kilometers of rubble in 6 hours, successfully locating 17 trapped individuals, including 4 survivors buried deep in the debris. EPFL Professor Dario Floreano said: 'Swarm robots' advantage is redundancy — even if 30% of the robots are damaged, the system continues functioning. This is something traditional single-body rescue robots cannot achieve.'
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