# Topics > Projects >  TERMES Project, Self-organizing Systems Research Group, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

## Airicist

Self-organizing Systems Research Group

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## Airicist

TERMES Project: An autonomous robotic system for 3D collective construction 

Uploaded on Jun 7, 2011




> This video demonstrates the TERMES project progress as of May 2011, and accompanies the RSS 2011 paper. The video covers the autonomous robot (Kali) navigation, manipulation, and finally construction of a complete 10-block staircase. It also includes a simulation video of the algorithmic approach to constructing desired structures using decentralized rules.

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## Airicist

TERMES Project: Adaptive Staircase 

 Uploaded on Jun 14, 2011




> Autonomous construction of a staircase to scale a cliff of unknown height. The TERMES robot (Kali) detects unclimbable surfaces and uses previous experience to determine the next building sequence. The robot does this using only on-board IR range/pattern sensors (downwards and forwards) and internal tilt sensor.

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## Airicist

TERMES Project: A Narrated Overview for General Audiences 

 Uploaded on Sep 14, 2011




> A short overview of the TERMES project, in which we're developing multi-robot systems for automated construction, inspired by the building activity of termites. A user can ask for a particular final structure, and independent robots with decentralized control and onboard sensing will follow simple, local rules that guarantee correct completion of that structure.

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## Airicist

Termite robots build castles with no human help 

Published on Feb 13, 2014




> A swarm of self-organsing robots can cooperate to build structures, making decisions based on their environment with no human control
> 
> Read more: 
> "Termite robots build castles with no human help"
> 
> by Hal Hodson
> February 13, 2014

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## Airicist

Termite-Inspired Robots Can Build Unsupervised 

 Published on Feb 17, 2014




> Termites building a mound don't need central guidance, or even to communicate directly. Researchers at Harvard University's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering have built robots that work with similar autonomy, as Dr. Justin Werfel explains.

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## Airicist

Designing Collective Behavior in a Termite-Inspired Robot Construction Team, Science 2014.

 Published on Mar 14, 2014




> Supplementary Movie 3: Hardware demonstration of three robots working on a castle-like structure, starting from a partially complete state (Fig. 4A). Robots are autonomous, independently controlled, and have strictly onboard, short-range sensing. Total elapsed time in this clip is 23 minutes.

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## Airicist

TERMES Robots: 2 robot construction 

 Published on Mar 14, 2014




> Early Implementation: 2 robots working together, building on structure only.

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## Airicist

Justin Werfel in Robots in Depth #19

Published on Mar 1, 2018




> Justin Werfel talks about what termites can teach us about using autonomous swarms of robots. Host: Per Sjöborg, Robots in Depth #19 supported by http://www.aptomica.com
> 
> Termites have an amazing ability to create and maintain large, complicated structures with very limited capabilities. 
> 
> Justin talks about the opportunity to learn from the termites capability to create impressive structures and use that to create structures with autonomous swarms of robots. We get to hear about how the Termes project aims to learn from termites and build on their capabilities to create any desired structure.
> 
> We also hear how Justin was drawn to robotics by the balance between theoretical and practical work.

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## Airicist

Termites and Robots, Building Together | Justin Werfel | TEDxPrincetonU

Published on Feb 6, 2019




> Human construction projects rely on careful planning and organized teamwork. Termites show us another way. While termites here are famous as agents of destruction, their relatives elsewhere build huge, elaborate towers, where each of the millions of insects in the colony acts on its own without advance planning or information beyond what it experiences directly. These wonders of the natural world inspire the creation of swarms of robots to construct buildings for us. Senior Research Scientist This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

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