But the AquaJelly does more than swim around and look pretty. Each is coated with conductive metal paint that draws the robot to a nearby charging station. It also has LED illumination, integrated pressure, light and radio sensors, and 11 infrared light-emitting diodes used for jelly-to-jelly communication. Above water, the robots use a short-range radio system to signal to one another that a charging station is occupied. Markus Fischer, the head of corporate design at Festo, hopes the AquaJelly will lead to a robotic workforce that can adapt to complicated tasks. Whereas today’s robot assembly lines can produce only a single product, “there is a possibility that [someday] several autonomous robots will work together and produce personalized products.”
