Think small to think big

It is already possible to get robots to swarm and communicate - whether it's military drones that could `swamp' an enemy aircraft, or smart cars that warn each other to avoid traffic jams. Researchers have also managed to get tiny bots to self-assemble into 2D shapes. Scaling them down and going from 2D to 3D is the next step - part of a programmable matter concept known as claytronics.