Modular Robotics

If a soft-bodied robot uses rigid actuators to move its body, then it isn't really soft now, is it? An experimental new caterpillar-inspired bot gets around that conundrum by using soft, collapsible origami segments to squirm and steer its way into our hearts.

In recent years we've seen quadruped robots, self-balancing robots, and omnidirectional robots. Should you want one of your own, the UGOT Robotic Kit now allows users to build all of those bots and more.

In cramped spacecraft or space stations, there isn't room to store multiple robots that are each designed for a specific task. The Mori3 system was designed with that fact in mind, as it can be used to create different types of robots as needed.

We see a lot of wacky concept vehicles, but few as nutty as Hyundai's Ultimate Utility Vehicles with their robotic stilt legs. And the company is dead serious about building them, too, with a new development and test facility to be built in Montana.

One thing that many "smart" machines can do is move about autonomously. Designing that functionality from scratch can be challenging, though, which is where Hyundai's Plug & Drive (PnD) modular platform is intended to come in.

Hyundai is adapting its jaw-dropping Elevate platform for unmanned and autonomous missions. The TIGER keeps the chassis design and extraordinary articulating wheels-on-legs, and offers a modular platform to carry loads across the roughest terrains.

Out of all the cool-looking forms that robots can take, a cube seems like a pretty boring choice. But MIT’s cute little cube bots can roll and tumble around, recognize each other, and stack themselves into whatever shape is needed.

All living things are built with 20 amino acids in myriad combinations, so why not machines and robots? This is the inspiration for a novel fabrication method using a handful of multi-use parts to create all manner of tiny machines. Machines who eventually, may even be able to build themselves.

A research team led by Cornell University has demonstrated a bunch of modular robots that move together as one, but break apart and reform as a different shape that's better suited to the assigned task or to navigate obstacles.

​​Drones have proven their worth as toys, but are beginning to show how they can serve as fun learning tools as well. The Flybrix Lego drone is a recent example of this, and it has now been joined by Airblock, modular kits of foam drone parts that snap together for customized flying machines.​

Colorado-based Modular Robotics has taken its Cubelets concept to the next level with MOSS, a modular robot construction system that requires no coding or soldering skills on the part of the user.