MIT builds the first self-assembling robots!
If you've always been fascinated by Optimus Prime's unique transformation abilities, the news is more than shocking.
Because if movies have taught us anything, it's that the future doesn't belong to machines, but to robots that can self-heal, adapt to the environment, and completely change their appearance in just a few moments!
And while the future is not yet here, it seems that the first step in this direction has been taken, albeit a clearly more modest one.
The video you're about to watch captures the best that's been done so far in self-assembling bots: a series of small magnetic cubes doing their thing! And it's much more exciting than it sounds.
Because M-Blocks are the next generation of self-assembling robots still in development at MIT. Each cube contains a wheel inside, which when spun at incredible speeds - around 20,000 revolutions per minute - makes the magnetic cube move on its own.
And of course, there's the "smart" self-alignment system, which makes the cubes align with each other, with the help of magnetism of course. And while seeing one cube jump and align with the others may not be that impressive, the overall simultaneous movements and the individual parts that unite into a larger whole, giving new forms and shapes, makes the mind imagine that this modest path will someday lead to the magic of the Autobots!
Researcher Kyle Gilpin, who is working on the project with John Romanishin and robotics professor Daniela Rus, claims that while the technology is not physically new, the way M-Blocks self-assemble is completely novel.
Watch the footage and start imagining..
Source: newsbeast.gr
