Scientists have designed a pair of robots which have the ability to communicate with each other using their own set of generated language, a report said.

The robots, called ‘Lingodroids’, communicate using their own generated language and create new names for places they go and also determine the relationship between two places which depend on their direction and distance from each other.

University of Queensland (UQ) post-doctoral research fellow Dr Ruth Schulz and her colleagues have led the team in developing the pair of robots whose language is similar to the sequence of phone tones which make it easier for the robots to communicate in a noisy environment. The language is then translated into syllables making it easier for humans to recognize. The words the robots are using are known as toponyms.

“If they encounter an area that has not yet been named, one will invent a word, such as ‘kuzo’, choosing a random combination of syllables, which it will communicate to other robots it meets, thus defining the name of the place,” said Schulz in the University website.

The robots consist of a transportable platform fitted with a camera, a laser range finder and sonar for mapping, obstacle avoidance, and a microphone and speakers for communication.

“These languages are very powerful – they are known as ‘generative’ languages because they enable the robots to refer to places they haven't been to or even places that they imagine beyond the edges of their explored world,” Schulz added.

Dr Schulz and her colleagues presented their research at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Shanghai.

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