# The robots get stuck on purpose — and that is how they build

- slug: the-robots-get-stuck-on-purpose-and-that-is-how-they-build
- date: 2026-04-17
- category: Robotics

Harvard's robotic ants follow simple rules and leave light trails to coordinate — but those very trails box them in. That confinement, not a foreman or a blueprint, is where construction happens. Researchers call it trapping instability.

---