A single robot can accomplish great, and terrifying, feats. What happens then when the robots start working together towards a common goal? One researcher aims to find out.

Dr. Roderich Gross, Head of the Natural Robotics Lab at the University of Sheffield, and his team have created 40 robots that can work together through the use of advanced artificial intelligence. The robots are programmed to meet up and work towards a common goal, even if they’re initially separated. For now, the robots can only perform basic functions, like moving a box, but the hope is that they can one day used in military, medical and science applications.

Check out the video below to see the robot swarm in action:

What’s interesting is that these robots may one day be shrunk down to the microscopic level and be inserted into the human body. The robots would then work together to improve functions of the body. Of course, the hard part would be convincing humans to let doctors inject hundreds of tiny robots into their bloodstream.

[h/t: Telegraph]