More correctly called swarm robotics (Score 5, Informative)

This research project is repackaged swarm robotics. Swarm robots have been around for years. The main problem with swarms is getting the power and leverage to manipulate large objects as the swarm is only as strong as it's weakest link. The main benefit is that they tend to be more fault tolerant than monolithic robots.

See:
Robotics portal
Swarm robotics google search
CMU Robotics Institute