When you think of tracked robots, you might think of bomb disposal robots or others used in military applications. You probably haven’t seen anything quite like this, however—it’s a “reconfigurable ...

Vehicles and buildings designed to enable survival in extreme environments, such as spacecraft, submarines and sealed shelters, heavily rely on systems for the management of carbon dioxide (CO 2).

Most people think of the waterfront as the edge of the city. A team of MIT researchers sees it as a dynamic, Lego-like construction site. Their new system, called "FloatForm," is a swarm of small ...

While reconfigurable soft robots are still in their infancy, such a technique could someday enable general-purpose robots that can adapt their shapes to accomplish diverse tasks. "When people think ...

Scientists at MPI-IS have developed electrically driven robotic components, called HEXEL modules, which can snap together into high-speed reconfigurable robots. Magnets embedded along the outside of ...

This paper presents a scalable modular structure composed of cuboctahedral units that can be selectively disassembled using a single, remote vibration source. Each module features ...

Self-reconfigurable modular robotics systems comprise autonomous modules that can dock, undock and rearrange to form varied morphologies tailored to specific tasks and environments. Inspired by ...

Formless 'slime' robots that shape-change to complete complex tasks – it sounds like science fantasy. However, MIT researchers have developed a machine-learning technique that brings shape-changing ...

(1) A reconfigurable artificial muscle device capable of performing multiple functions through repeated phase transitions and magnetic responsiveness of slime-like ferrofluid electrodes. (2) Schematic ...

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are calling a new kind of robot they developed the “equivalent of a robotic Swiss Army Knife” because of its multi-function capabilities and ...

Stuttgart – Scientists at the Max-Planck-Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS) have developed hexagon-shaped robotic components, called modules, that can be snapped together LEGO-style into ...