Players can expect to program themselves a robot society some time in 2017. Those who wish to keep up to date with State Machine ’s developments can sign up for a newsletter on the game’s site .

Reprogramming robots would take longer and idle the factory. Sometimes a worker will be paired with a machine helper, and sometimes smaller devices will replace the bulkier robots.

Repurposing robots differs from simple reuse. By integrating new hardware and reprogramming, repurposed robots can serve entirely new functions while retaining their core identity as robotic systems.

Now, a few weeks later, the team behind Promobot IR77 says it's still trying to flee towards the exit of the facility, even after undergoing extensive reprogramming to avoid the issue. Since the bot ...