"A
team of engineers used little more than paper and Shrinky dinks - the
classic children’s toy that shrinks when heated - to build a robot
that assembles itself into a complex shape in four minutes flat, and
crawls away without any human intervention.”
“The
advance, described in Science, demonstrates the potential to quickly
and cheaply build sophisticated machines that interact with the
environment, and to automate much of the design and assembly process.
The method draws inspiration from self-assembly in nature, such as
the way linear sequences of amino acids fold into complex proteins
with sophisticated functions.”
“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.”
“The
new robot is the first that builds itself and performs a function
without human intervention.”
“The
current robot operates on a timer, waiting about ten seconds after
the batteries are installed to begin folding. However, 'we could
easily modify this such that the folding is triggered by an
environmental sensor, such as temperature or pressure' ...”
“The
long-term dream of this work, Wood said, is to have a facility that
everyone could access around the clock in their communities when they
might have a need for robotic assistance, from everyday house and
porch sweeping to detecting gas leaks in the neighborhood.”
“You
would be able to come in, describe what you need in fairly basic
terms, and come back an hour later to get your robotic helper ...”
“All
told, each robot cost about $100, but only $20 for the body without
the motors, batteries, and microcontroller.”
“This
achievement by Rob and his team changes the way we think about
manufacturing in that the machine fabricates itself ...”
“The
days of big, rigid, robots that sit in place and carry out the same
repetitive task day in and out are fading fast.”
Source:
Video
of the robots:
A
closed loop of self-production without any human interference would
be the direct consequence in the close future.
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