Robots That Grow By Eating Other Robots – YouTube
Continue browsing
Scientists have developed a prototype robot that can grow, repair itself and improve itself by using materials from the environment or by “absorbing” other robots. The researchers say it represents a significant advance in robot autonomy.
The researchers coined the term “robot metabolism” to describe the process that allows machines to absorb and reuse components from their environment. The scientists published their findings July 16 in the journal Science Advances.
“True autonomy means that robots must not only make decisions on their own, but also provide physical support for themselves,” said lead author Philip Martin Wider, a professor of engineering at Columbia University.
You might be interested
-
Robots wear out long before they finish their work. Their power supply can change that.
-
China unveils world's first robot capable of operating independently 24/7 – watch it change batteries in disturbing new footage
-
A new artificial intelligence from MIT can learn to control robots by observing the world through their eyes—all it takes is a single camera.
“Similar to how biological life absorbs and integrates resources, these robots grow, adapt and repair themselves using materials from the environment or from other robots.”
The robots are made up of “truss links” – hexagonal, elongated rods with magnetic connectors that can contract and expand with other modules.
These modules can also be assembled and disassembled. Magnets allow the robots to form increasingly complex structures that their creators believe could become “self-sustaining machine ecosystems.”
The researchers argue in their study that there are two rules for robot metabolism. First, the robot must evolve entirely on its own or receive assistance from other robots with similar components. Second, the only external resources available to the truss links are materials and energy. The truss links use a combination of automated and controlled behavior. Shape-shifting, consuming robots
“P
Sourse: www.livescience.com
