Obivous problems that would stop an otherwise great idea:
reproduction
body mass
defenses (not that serious, admittedly)
viruses (okay, an IR signal could solve this)
autotrophs (solar cells, but you wouldn't exactly do this outside )
Reproduction- all robots are connected wirelessly to a central computer- whenever a robot "reproduces", it sends the child's DNA to the central computer, which then overwrites the DNA of any least fit/dead robot with the new DNA. The child is "born".
Bodymass- You could make the max speed for the motors decrease as battery level goes up.
Defenses/viruses- The cybug robots have a 360-degree IR tranciever built-in on the HBF-3 processor board.
autotrophs- They also offer a solar cell/ wall outlet-powered stationary charger, called the "sunflower", which can be modified to feed the cybugs, is also available for like $20- see the ecosystem link.
Also, here's the coupling mechanism to trasnsfer energy that they reccommend, in ASCII art-
. . . . . . antenna on prey- connected to + terminal on huge capacitor
. . . . . ./
. . . . ./ . . . . . . \_____________ . .- antenna on predator- connected with diode to + terminal on huge capacitor
(+)--/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\---->|---- +
----- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .-------------------
. .\ (-) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\(-) . . . . . . -Whiskers on bottom always connect - terminal on battery with tinfoil on floor
-------------------------------------------------------- -Tinfoil always connects negative terminals on bots
A better strategy:
V- below are the prey coupling contacts on the left and the predator's on the right. The --->|--- things are diodes.
. . . . . . . .\ -Special feeding whiskers, this one is above bot
. . . . . . . . \
(+)-----O . .\---->|--(+) to (+) contact
----| . . . . . .(----------- PCB
(-)------O . ./----|<--(-) to (-) contact
. . . . . . . . /
. . . . . . . / - (-) whisker below bot
btw- THE LINKS WORK NOW.