The robots are simple, free of many of the sensors and state-of-the-art hardware typically found on other bots. While that means that the Kilobots are somewhat limited in function — they have trouble moving in a straight line, for example — it also means that each bot is inexpensive and easy to build, said Michael Rubenstein, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University and lead researcher for the Kilobot project.
But Rubenstein and his colleagues have big plans for their tiny robots. One day, they'd like the bots to function as "programmable matter," which is based on a concept similar to 3D printing — only without the printer, he said.
See the full story here: http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2014/0815/Scientists-build-army-of-robots-capable-of-swarming-into-3D-formations