MIT's latest achievement: This 'self-replicating' robot can build everything from airplanes to rockets!

How outrageous are the abilities of today’s robots?

It’s really unimaginable. Even building airplanes and rockets has become a small case. They can even build themselves! Really promising.

Recently, a paper by MIT researchers was published in the journal Nature Communications Engineering.

The paper was co-published by Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA) doctoral student Amira Abdel-Rahman, professor and CBA director Neil Gershenfeld, and three others who have made significant progress in creating robots. Results.

Paper address: ​​https://www. php.cn/link/1b742ae215adf18b75449c6e272fd92d​​

It is understood that the latest robot developed by Gershenfeld’s research team can assemble almost anything quickly and effectively. Including objects much larger than yourself, from vehicles to buildings to larger robots and more.

The team has shown that both the assembly robots and the structural components being built can be composed of the same subunits, and that the robots can operate independently in large numbers Move quickly to complete large-scale assembly.

Based on the standardized design of the same structure, this also means that this robot can "effortlessly" assemble a new version of itself.

"Constructing a self-replicating system is not only a classic challenge in #, but even a classic in science fiction literature Challenge," said Sandor Fekete, professor of algorithms at the Department of Computer Science at the Technical University of Braunschweig in Germany. "So far, only nature has truly achieved this. So their work is very exciting People’s hearts!」

The “big dream” of small voxels

Voxel is a very tiny sub-unit, equivalent to the volume component of a two-dimensional pixel. As with previous experiments, the new system involves large, usable structures built from voxel arrays.

However, unlike the voxels of early mechanical structures, the voxels used by Gershenfeld's research team are more "complex", and can be made from one unit Carry power and data to the next unit.

This allows the structure to be built not only to withstand loads, but also to lift, move and manipulate materials - even the voxels themselves.

Early versions of assembly robots had bundles of wires connected to their power and control systems, Gershenfeld said, but “we built the These structures create an "intelligent system" that allows voxels to transmit power, data, and power regardless of wires."

The robot itself consists of a string of several voxels connected end-to-end. These voxels can grab hold of another voxel using a connection point at one end, then move like a worm to the desired location, attach to the growing structure and release there.

Robot path optimization algorithm, the world’s first

Gershenfeld explained that while the early systems demonstrated by his group members could in principle build arbitrarily large structures, the process becomes more complex when the size of those structures reaches a certain size compared to the size of the assembly robots. It is becoming more and more inefficient, "because each robot must take a longer path to bring the parts to the destination."

With their newly developed system, the robot can decide Whether to build a larger version that can reach greater distances and reduce "commute" time.

Building a larger structure may require another such step. Bigger robots are created from new, larger robots, while building finely detailed structures may require more help from the smallest robots.

Abdel-Rahman said that when these robotic devices work on assembling things, they face choices every step of the way.

"It can build a structure, it can build another robot of the same size, it can also build a larger robot."

"We have been working on creating a decision optimization algorithm for this part of the work."

"For example, If you want to build a cone or a hemisphere," she said, "how do you start path planning and how do you divide that shape into different areas where different robots can work?"

The software they developed allows someone to input a shape and get an output that shows where to place the first block, and every block after that, based on the distance that needs to be traversed.

Gershenfeld said that although there have been thousands of papers published on robot route planning, “the next steps, when the robot must When making a decision, building another robot or a different kind of robot, This is a completely new job, and there is no precedent to refer to."

Research Limitations

While the experimental system can be assembled and include power and data links, in its current version the connectors between the tiny sub-units are still not strong enough , unable to bear the necessary load. Miana Smith, a graduate student on the team, is working on developing more powerful connectors.

Gershenfeld said: "These robots can walk and they can place parts, but we haven't reached the point where one robot builds another robot and then it's gone."

"To make this situation a reality, we also need the support of some emerging technologies, such as the power of actuators and the strength of joints."

MIT computer scientist Neil Gershenfeld

##Gershenfeld also said that a fully autonomous self-replicating robot assembly system is both Being able to assemble larger structures, including larger robots, and plan the best construction sequence - This may still take a few years.

But this work is already an important step toward that goal, including solving the complex tasks of when to build more robots, how big of a robot to make, and How to organize robots of different sizes to build a structure in an orderly manner.

From airplanes to rockets, the application potential of new technologies is huge

The application potential of this achievement is huge, because it is likely to be used tobuild various large-scale, High value structure.

For example, now when building an aircraft, you first need a huge factory, the factory is even much larger than the parts they are building, plus other aircraft may often be needed to transport manufacturing raw materials needed for aircraft.

With such a system of tiny parts assembled by microrobots, "the final assembly of the aircraft will become the only assembly process," Gershenfeld said .

Similarly, in building a car, "you might spend a year building the tooling" before the first car is actually built, he said, but with the new system The emergence of will obviously bypass this process.

This potential efficiency is why Gershenfeld and his students have been working closely with car companies, airlines and aerospace agencies.

Even the relatively low-tech construction industry is likely to benefit from this technology in the future.

Interest in 3D printed homes has grown in recent years, but these homes now require printing machines that are as large or larger than the homes being built. The use of such micro-robots can apparently effectively solve this problem.

Aaron Becker, associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Houston, gave the work the highest possible rating, calling it 『Home run』：

"They have created an innovative hardware system, a new way of thinking about expanding the robot population. method, and a rigorous set of algorithms."

"This paper examines a key area of ​​reconfigurable systems: how to rapidly scale a robotic workforce and use it to efficiently Assemble the materials into the required structure."

"This is the first time I have seen such work!"

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