BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | Tayside and Central | Scientists to build robot society

Scientists in Dundee have announced plans to create a "robot village" in an effort to learn how different cultures emerge in society. The University of Abertay’s four-year study will feature about 60 miniature robots who will be organised into groups and programmed to interact. The project team plans to observe the robots to see how they behave together. The university will undertake the study along with five other institutions across the UK. Scientists say the robots will be organised into groups or “villages” and told to observe then copy each other’s behaviour in different situations. The research, costing more than £700,000, is being funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. A consortium of universities, including the University of Exeter, Warwick, Manchester and the West of England will take part in the study along with researchers from Leeds Metropolitan University.