Engineers unleash shapeshifting microrobots that morph, lock, and move untethered

As humanity’s efforts in the field of robotics continue, a team of roboticists has designed innovative lightweight terrestrial-aerial shapeshifting microrobots that can ‘lock’ into specific configurations and operate untethered.

Indeed, engineers at Tsinghua University, working with a trio of colleagues from Beihang University, all in China, have developed a new type of tiny robots that continuously transform its shape and retain its form to operate in this condition, according to a report by Tech Xplore on April 27.

Making the shapeshifting microrobots

Specifically, the researchers have described their design in the journal Natural Machine Intelligence, pointing out that the key to the new microbots’ capabilities is the thin-film-shaped small-scale actuator that they created by spinning a coating of silicone onto a silicon wafer.

Then, they transfer-printed a polyimide film onto the substrate, after which they continued by adding a layer of copper using electron beam evaporation, photolithography, and wet-etching of the copper layer, and finally completing it using laser cutting.

Details of one of the shapeshifting microrobots’ designs. Source: Shiwei Xu et al. / Nature Machine Intelligence — *Details of one of the shapeshifting microrobots’ designs. Source:* *Shiwei Xu et al. / Nature Machine Intelligence*

How the shapeshifting microrobots work

With the introduction of sensors, motors, and Lego-like blocks, the actuator facilitates the creation of tiny robots – nine centimeters long and weighing 25 grams – with shapeshifting abilities. As such, it’s the smallest untethered robot that can operate on land or through the air.

Per the researchers, the resulting microbots can form a wide array of shapes, ranging from rolling vehicles that can move along at speeds of up to 1.6 meters per second to flying drones – all running without a tether – and even one mini-robot that can do both.

Demonstration of shapeshifting microrobots’ operations. Source: Shiwei Xu et al. / Nature Machine Intelligence — *Demonstration of shapeshifting microrobots’ operations. Source:* *Shiwei Xu et al. / Nature Machine Intelligence*

This way, they create opportunities for various types of uses, such as in toy manufacturing or research projects for kids, as well as in commercial applications, like biology research in small venues like insect nests, and even in search and rescue operations.

Meanwhile, fellow roboticists at Imperial College London and the University of Bristol have made a breakthrough of their own, having devised a flying robot to handle hazardous building projects, with various potential benefits to the safety, sustainability, and scale in the construction industry.