Researchers at MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms are working on an ambitious project, designing robots that effectively self-assemble. The team admits that the goal of an autonomous self-building robot is still years away, but the work has thus far demonstrated positive results. At the system’s center are voxels, which carry power and data that can be shared between pieces. The pieces form the foundation of the robot, grabbing and attaching additional voxels before moving across the grid for further assembly.
Developing the proper level of intelligence for these systems is a big hurdle. Among other things, robots need to determine how and where to build, when to begin building a new robot and just generally how to avoid bumping into each other in the process. Hardware issues remain, as well. The team is currently working on building stronger connectors to keep the voxels together. Ultimately, the desire for such a system is clear.
More information:
https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/22/researchers-are-building-robots-that-can-build-themselves/