Robo-Honeycomb Reveals the Secret Lives of Bees

Interactive robotics is a relatively new field of study, but in a short time has moved on from just performing pre-programmed repetitive tasks to more complex activities, including interactions with living creatures. Biocompatible and biomimetic robots, for example, are being increasingly used to study animals and plants.

Animal-in-the-loop robotic systems are especially effective for studying collective behaviors that are otherwise challenging with traditional methods. These systems provide not just new insights for animal behavior and conservation studies, but also push innovation in…