Voltron-Like Modular Robot Demonstrated

MattSparkes writes "The 'Superbot', a modular robot that transforms itself into different shapes in order to walk, crawl and clamber up inclines, has been demonstrated in at the University of Southern California. Each bot module is effectively a robot in its own right, and can move independently, flip over and rotate like wheels. They also have 3D accelerometers that let them know their precise orientation. The six sides of each module can dock with any other module. Once connected, the modules can communicate, coordinate shape changes and even transmit power. The bot's creators hope it will make a great working companion for places like, say, the Moon. Or Mars."

Comments

Re:Stargate already did it

[megmeister]

Um, as much as I love sg-1, you do know it's fiction right. What makes this news is that it's for real.

Re:No Confirmational change shown---Doh

[name*censored*]

For larger structures, you'd probably have the robots start assigning themselves as "leaders" or "coordinator" (either by convenient position, superior hardware or just random), so that it collects all the data of the robots in it's immediate vicinity and then reports to the other coordinator cubes. And then onec it outgrows that, have them create more and more eschelons. It would start to fall apart for complex movements or movements where all pieces are as dependant on their neighbours as the blocks on the other side of the structure, but it would at least help for simpler large-scale problems.