self-unfolding robots

[DrLeftover]

Origami Robots Fold Themselves And Walk Away

8/09/2014

A team of researchers from Harvard and MIT have developed a new kind of robot – one that’s capable of autonomously folding itself up into particular functional shapes and then going about its tasks.

“Getting a robot to assemble itself autonomously and actually perform a function has been a milestone we’ve been chasing for many years,” researcher Robert J. Wood said in a press release.

The researchers found their inspiration from both nature and art. Part of the inspiration for these robots is origami, where a single flat piece of paper can be folded into a variety of different and functional shapes. They were also inspired by self-assembly in the natural world, such as how chains of amino acids form complex protein shapes, or the way a flower naturally opens up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M1zNIVGrjM

http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2014/08/09/origami-robots-fold-themselves-and-walk-away/

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

Very cool

 

[csc4]

Oh wow, this could be very useful

 

[Evil Eye]

Walking? I'm not sure I'd call that walking

Pretty neat though.