Watch: Transformer robot can fold itself up like origami all on its own
Researchers have created a robot that can change its shape by folding itself up like a piece of origami and crawl away.
Built by researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, it is the first robot that can build itself and perform a function without any input needed from humans.
The prototype is able to reconfigure itself into a different shape through elements embedded in the flat piece of material.
Watch the robot transform (Source: Harvard)
"Getting a robot to assemble itself autonomously and actually perform a function has been a milestone we've been chasing for many years," said researcher Rob Wood.
Fellow researcher Sam Felton said one of its applications could be aiding more advanced space exploration: "Imagine a ream of dozens of robotic satellites sandwiched together so that they could be sent up to space and then assemble themselves remotely once they get there—they could take images, collect data, and more.”
They could also be used in search and rescue situations where they could be used to navigate small spaces.
Researchers had already designed an algorithm which can map out a pattern for objects based on the art of origami, avoiding the need for complex assembly and that it can be programmed.
The transformer robot is made from sheets of polystyrene embedded with a circuit board and a motor, batteries and microprocessor added on.
The circuit board produces heat which then triggers the folding mechanism. The polystyrene then hardens after cooling down, making the robot a solid shape that can walk.
The robot can transform in four minutes and the cost of making it is just $100.
Harvard’s Wyss Institute founding director Don Ingber said the technique could change the way we think about manufacturing robots: "The days of big, rigid, robots that sit in place and carry out the same repetitive task day in and out are fading fast."