Shape-shifting is a novel concept that might seem inapplicable to sturdy and robust objects like robots. But the truth is that they are making rapid strides in every field including space exploration. Space exploration for ages has evolved and made intergalactic travel possible because of a number of innovative technologies. However, a constant challenge space explorers face is constricted spaces which emanate from problems of payload management. The modular shape-shifting robots are redefining the way space is imagined in terms of its utility and flexibility, so much so that scientists consider them as next-generation robots.
Modelled on the lines of tensegrity robots, which usually have fibres changing shape according to the code, are of delicate build with an ability to transfigure into different shapes. The tensegrity project was initially started as a pet project to design one such robot to overcome challenges manoeuvring treacherous surfaces on mars. This was in 2015, and by 2019 NASA was able to develop a shape shifting robot to explore Saturn's moon. They could deploy mini robots which are surface agnostic, by changing their form and shape with capabilities of flying, rolling, floating and swimming, all included in one machine. NASA could also develop an Origami-inspired robot, PUFFER, an acronym for Pop up Flat Folding Explorer Robot, designed to be a compact robot with adjustable and inward collapsible wheels giving it a crab-like movement. It could crawl into nooks and corners which are too small, a critical manoeuvre for Mar's exploration.
A team of scientists from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and the University of Calgary developed ElectroVoxel, a shape-shifting robot designed particularly for space exploration. Cubical modules, techniques that are co-bots, have edges lined with electromagnetic coils. By controlling the current magnitude and polarity they move along, cling to each other, or move away. This mechanism is the basic mode of reconfiguration among different cubes. Currently, the bot is in a working prototype stage, which proves that the functionalities it boasts of, are possible.
Spurred by the idea of Cubesats of 2003, these miniature robots occupy minimal space by virtue of their design. It is indeed difficult to design a robot for space than for earth, because of the constraints it places on it in terms of size and volume. ElectroVox not only improves the space for human manoeuvre but also holds the potential to reduce the payload drastically. Martin Nisser, Ph.D student at MIT and the lead author of the study says, unlike in other projects, these bots do not depend on artificial intelligence, which leaves lots of room for improvisation by individuals to design shapes beyond what a computer can achieve.
Nisser says, once these bots are made strong enough to counter the earth's gravity, it will be possible to construct fluid and reconfigurable structures on earth also.
