Inspired by the digital world of the polygon mesh and the biological world of swarm behavior, the Mori3 robot can transform from 2D triangles to almost any 3D object. a published EPFL study Nature Machine Intelligenceshows the promise of modular robot technology for space travel.

“Our goal with Mori3 is to create a modular, origami-like robot that can be assembled and disassembled at will, depending on the environment and the task at hand,” says Jamie Pike, director of the Reconfigurable Robotics Lab. “Mori3 can change its size, shape and functions.”

The individual modules of the Mori3 robot have a triangular shape. The modules are easily combined to create polygons of various sizes and configurations in a process known as polygon meshing. “We’ve shown that creating a polygonal network is a viable robotics strategy,” says Christoph Belke, a PhD student in robotics.

To achieve this, the team had to push the boundaries of various aspects of robotics, including mechanical and electronic design, computer systems and engineering.

“We had to rethink the way we understand robots,” Belke explains. “These robots can change their shape, connect to each other, communicate and reconfigure to create functional and articulated structures.”

This proof of concept is successful because Mori3 robots are good at doing three things that robots should be able to do: movement, moving and moving objects, and interacting with users.

What is the advantage of building modular and multifunctional robots? Pike explains that to perform a wide variety of tasks, robots must be able to change their shape or configuration. “Polygonal and polymorphic robots that link together to form articulated structures can be effectively used for a variety of applications,” he says.

“Of course, a general-purpose robot like Mori3 will be less efficient than robots that specialize in specific areas. But Mori3’s biggest strength is its versatility.”

The Mori3 robots are partly designed for use on spaceships where there is no room to store different robots for each separate task that needs to be done. The researchers hope that the Mori3 robots will be used for communications and outdoor repairs.