If you’ve seen Minority Report, you’ll remember the scene when creepy little ‘spider’ robots are tossed into a building, and scurry about, looking for their target.
Well, that movie was set in 2054, but it looks like that type of technology is arriving much earlier than expected. Rolls Royce, the maker of lavish cars, but also major jet engines, has designed a line of incredibly small robots that aim to inspect their complex engines for problems.
Part of Rolls Royce’s IntelligentEngine program, these adorable, yet somewhat creepy little fellows called SWARM make a lot of sense for their purpose. Deployed within the complex and elaborate spaces of jet engines, looking for defects, damage, and problems. Designed by Rolls Royce, in collaboration with the University of Nottingham and Harvard University. Via Yanko Design:
Electric Future 