MIT develops self-assembling robotic cubes coated with reprogrammable magnetic materials

Researchers from the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) used magnetically reprogrammable materials to coat robotic cubeswhich allowed them self-assemble and be highly selective about what they connect.

According to the report posted on the website of Roof Blogthis MIT innovation makes reconfiguration into specific shapes and chosen configurations much easier than previous self-assembling modular robots.

The coating of soft magnetic material was obtained from cheap refrigerator magnets, equipping each of the cubes with a magnetic signature on each of its faces.

These firms ensure that each face is selectively attractive to only one other face of all other cubesfor both translation and rotation.

What happens if the cubes enter a tank of water?

All cubes can be magnetically programmed to a very fine resolution. For example, if they are thrown into a water tank with a totally random disturbance, they will collide, but if they hit the wrong one, the bucket falls over and vice versa.

“The researchers created a method to magnetically program materials to make cubes that are very picky about who they connect to, allowing for more scalable self-assembly.”, explains the description of a video about robotic cubes on the MIT YouTube channel.

Martin Nisser, PhD student in MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), explained: “ANDEarlier work on self-assembly typically required individual parts to be geometrically different, much like puzzle pieces, requiring individual fabrication of all parts”.

“However, by using magnetic programs, we can manufacture homogeneous parts in bulk and program them to take on specific target structures and, more importantly, reprogram them to take on new shapes later without having to re-manufacture the parts.Nisser concluded.