This Robot Swarm Can Flow Like Liquid and Support a Human’s Weight
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Summary
Scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Dresden Technical University have developed a swarm of 3D-printed robots that can flow like a liquid around objects before hardening to move and hold objects.
Each of the roughly two dozen robots is fitted with motorized gears that, when activated, allow the robots to grab onto one another and, as a collective, move around obstacles and assume various load-bearing structures, such as a bridge or wrench.
The robots, which are each approximately the size of a hockey puck, were inspired by how cells organise themselves into different biological tissues with varying physical properties, and are a step towards developing robotic materials that can dynamically change shape.
The team now hopes to further develop the robots so they can be scaled up in quantity and down in size, so they can one day be used to create robot organs.
