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These Truss Links self-assembled to form a tetrahedron. [Photo: Creative Machines Lab]<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty exciting to see this \u2018robot metabolism\u2019 breakthrough<\/a>: self-sustaining machines, turning damage into upgrades is truly science fiction coming to life.\u201d<\/p>\n Charles Wilson \u2026 commenting on Columbia University\u2019s breakthrough in modular robotics and inviting innovators to weigh in, via LinkedIn. \nFort Worth-based engineer Charles Wilson<\/strong> recently flagged a \u201cmind-blowing robotics trend<\/a>\u201d on LinkedIn after spotting new research from Columbia University<\/strong>: modular bots that can reconfigure themselves\u2014and even \u201ceat\u201d each other to grow stronger and heal on the fly.<\/p>\n The technology comes out of Columbia Engineering\u2019s Creative Machines Lab, where researchers have developed Truss Link robots<\/a>\u2014tetrahedron-shaped bots that use magnetic joints for fast reconfiguration. In one test Wilson points to, a bot increased its walking speed by 67% after attaching a new \u201climb\u201d scavenged from a neighboring unit.<\/p>\n Truss Link robot at Columbia University [Image: Video<\/a> screenshot]<\/p>\n The study, published in Science Advances, introduces what researchers call \u201crobot metabolism\u201d\u2014a self-sustaining process that lets machines absorb and reuse parts from their surroundings or fellow robots. The work was supported by the NSF AI Institute in Dynamic Systems and DARPA\u2019s TRADES program.<\/p>\n \u201cTrue autonomy means robots must not only think for themselves but also physically sustain themselves,\u201d said lead author Philippe Martin Wyder.<\/p>\n Co-author Hod Lipson, who directs the lab, said robot intelligence has advanced by \u201cleaps and bounds\u201d through machine learning, but hardware still lags behind: \u201cRobot bodies are still monolithic, unadaptive, and unrecyclable.\u201d<\/p>\n Lipson admits the image of self-reproducing robots \u201cconjures some bad sci-fi scenarios.\u201d But, as we hand off \u201cmore of our lives to robots from driverless cars to automated manufacturing, and even defense and space exploration,\u201d he said, \u201cWe can\u2019t rely on humans to maintain these machines. Robots must ultimately learn to take care of themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n Charles Wilson<\/p>\n That possibility isn\u2019t lost on Wilson, who earned his MBA from TCU\u2019s M.J. Neeley School of Business. He sees the next frontier for the tech. <\/p>\n \u201cPicture this in disaster zones or space missions, bots could adapt without human help, reshaping the workforce from rigid tools to resilient machines and teams,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n His post ended with challenges for the innovation community<\/a>: \u201cENGINEERS & INNOVATORS: How might this change disaster response? STARTUPS: Ready to build on \u2018robot metabolism\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n Watch the Columbia video here<\/a>.<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Process Engineer at Amazon, Futurist, and Investor<\/strong><\/p>\n
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