James McLurkin


Swarm Robotics: Invasion of the Robot Ants

Published on Nov 12, 2013

Watch as a throng of tiny, self-organizing machines—flashing lights on, speakers playing vintage video game music—search, cluster, and disperse with a single command. We owe much of this groundbreaking technology—known as "swarm robotics"—to visionary engineer James McLurkin, named one of the country's top five robot designers by Time magazine. His machines perform striking organizational and teamwork tasks in a method with origins in the behavior of ants and bees, and with real-world application and stakes: his swarm can clear minefields, execute complex missions on Mars, and search the aftermath of natural disasters for survivors. Learn more from McLurkin and witness his mechanical colony in action.

This program is generously underwritten by the Lohengrin Foundation.
 

Interview: James McLurkin on future of robotics, aritificial intelligence

Published on Apr 16, 2014

James McClurkin -- Asst. Professor, Dept. of Computer Science, Rice University -- is a lifelong robotics fan. We had a great conversation with him last month on his maiden trip to India on all things robotics related. What's more, we also tickled his fancy and got his thoughts on the future of voice-based assistants, machine learning, the possibility of a humanoid butler walking around in our homes, and the moral implications of creating sentient robots with true artificial intelligence.
 

Momath Encounters - Swarm Math: From wasps and wings to bots and bits

Published on Dec 24, 2015

Get under the hood of MoMath’s hot new Robot Swarm exhibit with roboticist James McLurkin. From the first naturally occurring distributed algorithms 120 million years ago to the automated exploration and search-and-rescue missions of today, learn how simple rules followed by individuals can result in complex group behaviors, and how tasks like warehouse fulfillment and even building construction can sometimes be handled better by groups of robots than by people!
 
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