Shape-shifting robots built from smarticles could navigate Army operations

EurekAlert  September 18, 2019
Working under a U.S. Army project a team of researchers in the US (Georgia Institute of Technology, Northwestern University) built robots entirely from smaller robots known as smarticles, unlocking the principles of a potentially new locomotion technique. The 3D-printed smarticles can do just one thing: flap their two arms. But when five of these smarticles are confined in a circle, they begin to nudge one another, forming a robophysical system known as a “supersmarticle” that can move by itself. The devices can change their location only when they interact with other devices while enclosed by a ring. These structures could be reconfigured on demand to meet specific needs by tweaking their geometry. Even though no individual robot could move on its own, the cloud composed of multiple robots could move as it pushed itself apart and shrink as it pulled itself together. Their movement can be controlled by adding photo sensors to the robots that halt the arm flapping when a strong beam of light hits one of them…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE

Five identical “smarticles” interact with one another in an enclosure. By nudging each other, the group — dubbed a “supersmarticle” — can move in random ways. Credit: Rob Felt, Georgia Tech

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