MIT Scientists Created Shape-Shifting Cube Robots for Space Exploration Based on Electromagnetism

Modular robots have a special place in terms of space exploration because they hold promise for their self-assembling and reconfiguring abilities. However, current models of this type of robot are still a little clunky and are typically built from expensive motors to help it move. Due to this, scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have built more scalable robots.

MIT's Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) researchers partnered with colleagues from the University of Calgary to develop the shape-shifting cube robots using 3D printing technology. It does not have motors or moving parts but instead uses electromagnets to shift around each other.

What is Electromagnetism?

The McGraw Hill website Access Science defines electromagnetism as the physical interaction among electrically charged objects, magnetic moments, and the electromagnetic field.

The electromagnetic field could be static, slowly changing, or could form waves, which are known as light, and follow or obey the laws of optics. Electromagnetic devices are seen everywhere in modern society. The interaction of these elements encompasses phenomena related to atoms, light, electricity, magnetism, and electromagnetic field.

Electromagnetism is one of the four fundamental interactions in the universe. As such, it forms the basis for several fields of science, like physics, optics, molecular biology, and chemistry.

ElectroVoxels: Shape-Shifting Cube Robots

MIT scientists used electromagnetism in their new robot to avoid the usual stuffing of bulky and expensive actuators into the individual block of the cube. According to their news release, the team embedded small, easily manufactured, inexpensive electromagnets into the cubes' edges that can repel and attract so that the robots can shift positions and rapidly change shape.

They call their new autonomous shape-shifting system "ElectroVoxels" that currently exist in a working prototype stage. It can already perform basic functions, such as moving side-by-side to shift into a new position as needed.

The ElectroVoxels measure 60 mm by 60mm and also contain magnets that have ferrite core that look like little black tubes wrapped in copper wire. Iside each cube there are tiny printed circuit boards and electronics responsible for sending electric current in the right direction through the right electromagnet. The self-reconfiguring modular robot is also completely wireless for easier maintenance and large-scale system manufacture.

How Does ElectroVoxels Work?

According to Engadget, shape-shifting robots have two basic types of movement. First, they can pivot to the edge of another cube; and secondly, they can traverse from one ElectroVoxel to the next one. Users can highlight specific magnets to control the speed at which the cube moves and make sure that each of them does not collide with each other.

They can also use software to control up to 1,000 ElectroVoxels by configuring them into shifting in different shapes. The software can easily detect electromagnetic assignments to carry out the task of shape-shifting the cube.

Moreover, the robots can also operate in a low-gravity environment that is ideal for outer space missions. Researchers suggest that the robots can change the inertia properties of a spacecraft that may remedy several challenges linked to launch mass and volume.

MIT scientists hope that this new technology can enable a range of space-related uses. They are now working on a future version of ElectroVoxels to allow the creation of self-sorting storage containers.

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