Harvard engineers have demonstrated how 1,000 robots can swarm together in harmony.

In a proof-of-concept for robotic self-assembly systems, the team showed off some advanced techniques to get the swarm to move and think together, with no collisions or confusion.

Their set of one thousand “kilobots” assemble itself into various shapes and patterns, with a few bots setting a seed for all the others to fall into line.

The seed units gather together and emit pulses of IR light, which is picked up by its peers.

The dimmer the light, the further away, so the other bots can move into position relative to the seed.

When enough kilobots find their place, they communicate new information to others, telling them to select a new position.

They even tell each other when they have strayed off course or appear broken, so that the healthy robots can maintain their work.

The team says its latest little robots could be charged via IR or an internet power system which could be activated when they chain up.

Have a look at the video below, and check out this report for more information.