These 2D machines can shapeshift into moving 3D robots

Date:
Tue, 13 Jun 2023 14:00:00 +0000

Description:
By joining forces, a team of Mori3 robots can form almost any 3D shape. EPFL Mori3's triangular, modular design allows it to fuse with its companions, and could one day make it into space. The post These 2D machines can shapeshift into moving 3D robots appeared first on Popular Science .

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By joining forces, a team of Mori3 robots can form almost any 3D shape. EPFL

In order to keep costs low while maximizing utility, engineers are getting creative with their potential robotic cargo. As governments and private companies set their sights returning to the moon and,eventually, establishing a human presence on Mars , space-friendly robots are all the more crucial. Taking inspiration from biological swarm behaviors and geometrical patterns, researchers at Switzerlands Ecole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne (EPFL) recently showcased Mori3, a new line of shapeshifting, 2D triangular robots capable of combining to form virtually any 3D shape.

[Related: Foldable robots with intricate transistors can squeeze into
extreme situations .]

As detailed in a paper published on Monday with Nature Machine Intelligence , the teams modular, origami-like Mori3 machines can be assembled and disassembled at will depending on the environment and task at hand, Jamie Paik, the papers co-author and director of EPFLs aptly-named Reconfigurable Robotics Lab, said in a statement.

Although prices are steadily falling , space is still at a premium when traveling to, well, space. Reaching low-earth orbit via one of SpaceXs Falcon 9 rockets, for example, can set you back approximately $1,200 per pound of payload therefore, the more uses you can pack into a small design, the
better. And Mori3s (or, more accurately, a team of Mori3s) appear up to the challenge.

In the teams proof of concept, Mori3 robots were able to shuffle around, handle and move objects, as well as interact with their users in a variety of design shapes. Instead of specializing in a single task or function, Mori3 is meant as more of an all-purpose system, forming and reforming for astronauts various needs, such as external station repairs, to simply transporting materials throughout a lunar base or spacecraft.

[Related: The ISSs latest delivery includes space plants and atmospheric lightning monitors .]

In footage first highlighted by The Daily Beast , multiple Mori3 bots are shown to fuse together and alter their overall shape to form a single,
walking quadrupedal machine. In another video, an array of flat, triangular Mori3s manage to morph and position itself into the upright,
three-dimensional same walking robot.

We had to rethink the way we understand robotics, added Christoph Belke, a robotics researcher at EPFL and one of studys other co-authors. These robots can change their own shape, attach to each other, communicate and reconfigure to form functional and articulated structures.

Check out videos from EPFL showcasing a single Mori3s 2D movement, as well as a teams combined 3D capabilities below:

The post These 2D machines can shapeshift into moving 3D robots appeared
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Link to news story:
https://www.popsci.com/technology/mori3-robot-space/


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