New robot for troops, first responders in works

What if robots could reassemble themselves at will? The liquid metal cyborg in Terminator was terrifyingly useful.On May 3, McCutchen uncoiled like a Motor Grader cobra on a 92 mph Ross Detwiler fastball. It could look like anyone, repair shotgun blasts, even turn its hand into a murderous icepick.They had done their homework flatwork ironer, they had talked to the right scholars. And then of course, you've got Transformers, wherein alien robots morph from cars and trucks into giant humanoid fighting machines.It isn't liquid metal nor is it extraterrestrial, but MIT's John Romanishin, Daniela Rus, and Kyle Gilpin think they've found a promising precursor to a similar technology.By building simple, independent modules that can separate and recombine at will, you can design a robot of flexible functionality. Such modular robots have been around for a long time. Indeed, we've covered plenty in the past. But none are as simple as MIT's M-Blocks, and it's that simplicity that's got folks excited. 

The first thing you'll notice about M-Blocks is how they move. All locomotion is self-contained—there are no external moving parts. Each block contains a 20,000 RPM flywheel which imparts angular momentum to each cube. They can move across the floor, roll over each other, and even leap about like a Mexican jumping bean.The result is a system of discrete components capable of joining together to form a shape and then breaking apart and reassembling into another shape.M-Blocks are distinct from other modular robots because, instead of being in control throughout the assembly process, there are moments of chaos, where the blocks' location isn't precisely regulated.Every application that comes here goes through a thorough review process by a panel of scholars and filmmakers, says Jeff Hardwick,industrial washing machine senior program officer in the division of public programs for NEH. That would be a problem for self-assembling robots that require certain external components to match up perfectly to unite. 

What makes this chaos acceptable in M-Blocks? Magnets.That part of Voyager's magical mystery tour will take another 40,000 years if the cosmic winds are with it.Because that celebration is so far off,washer extractor maybe it's time for mankind to pop the champagne anyway. When they are close to one another, the magnets on the cubes' edges passively align their poles and straighten the cube, allowing the face magnets to snap together.Because there is no special orientation required—for connectors to meet up, for example—any side will do.These edge magnets also allow the cubes to pivot around each other. Because the magnets are chamfered, the magnets touch when they pivot, and the bond is strengthened.It all comes down to who has the space, time PP Woven Baling Press suppliers and patience to hang onto cars through that long period of low value and little interest.In the future, the team envisions equipping special blocks with more horsepower to pull weaker blocks along or battery packs for extra juice.