M-Block robot. Angular momentum move it around... genius! See the blocks jump into place, you will agree. (via MIT)
It began in 2011 when MIT senior John Romanishin presented his idea for self-assembling robots. “It can't be done,” is the response he received countless times from colleagues and professors. Now, two years later, he has working prototypes and is preparing to present his small cube shaped robots at the IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.
The bots are called M-Blocks and are able to move and connect to one another without the use of any external components. In order to accomplish movements, the inside of each block contains a flywheel which can spin as fast as 20,000 revolutions per minute. The flywheel is then braked resulting in angular momentum propelling the block in a specific direction. In addition, the outside of each block is lined with corner magnets and cylindrical magnets placed in special positions. These allow the blocks to attach to other cubes and re-arrange themselves efficiently.
Kyle Gilpin, a postdoc student at MIT collaborating with Romanishin, adds, “There's a point in time when the cube is essentially flying through the air, and you are depending on the magnets to bring it into alignment when it lands. That's something that's totally unique to this system.”
What makes the cubes so efficient at moving and connecting to one another is the engineering behind the magnet's architecture and assembly. On each edge of a cube a magnet can be found which acts as a pivot for a cube rotating around an edge. When the cubes are connected face-to-face, there is a small gap between each of the cube's edges. However, when one is in the motion of rotating around the face of another, the magnets touch creating a stronger magnet connection, ultimately acting as an anchor for rotation. Furthermore, each edge contains two cylindrical magnets. These are positioned slightly further from each edge and help the magnets stay connected to one another. The poles of each cylindrical magnet will naturally align with the poles of the magnets on another cube, thus allowing them to attach to any side of any cube.
Hod Lipson, a robotics researcher from Cornell and early critic of the M-Blocks mentions, “What they did that was very interesting is they showed several modes of locomotion. Not just one cube flipping around, but multiple cubes working together, multiple cubes moving other cubes – a lot of other modes of motion that really open the door to many, many applications, much beyond what people usually consider when they talk about self-assembly. They rarely think about parts dragging other parts – this kind of cooperative group behavior.”
The researcher’s next step is to develop algorithms which will guide a swarm of 100 M-Blocks. They mentioned they would like to be able to see the cubes autonomously assemble into a variety of structures and objects. Furthermore, they are also hoping to create special cubes which will have unique functions. For example, possibly a cube with an integrated camera, or batteries. These cubes will not contain motors of their own, but would rather be moved and guided by the other general purpose cubes. It will be interesting to see what the first application may be.
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