Have you ever wondered what life would be like if robots from Transformers or Terminator were real? If so, you may soon get your wish, as MIT researchers are supposedly developing M-Blocks, which are cube-shaped bot with no external moving pieces.
Each cube has a small flywheel that is capable of hitting speeds of up to 20,000 revolutions per minute. Magnets embedded in specific locations around the bots help them stick together.
Current M-Blocks are the size of wooden alphabet blocks, but researchers are hoping to "miniaturize the technology" according to MIT.edu.
Researchers feel they could eventually make liquid-metal androids similar to T-1000, as seen in the "Terminator" movies.
"I just had the idea for a really long time," said MIT roboticist John Romanishin, who proposed the idea while a senior at the university. "The idea has been in a lot of people's minds from movies like 'Terminator' and other popular culture references."
The blocks are made of 2-inch blocks of aluminum, filled with the motor and brains, and then plated with plastic sides 3-D-printed out, according to MIT.edu.
In one video, the M-Blocks can be seen jumping, spinning, clicking together and flying away.
Researchers feel eventually the block will be autonomous, capable of making their own decisions, according to MIT.edu.
"It's one of these things that the (modular-robotics) community has been trying to do for a long time," said Daniela Rus, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science and director of CSAIL. "We just needed a creative insight and somebody who was passionate enough to keep coming at it, despite being discouraged."
Multiple videos have been posted online showing how the M-Blocks work.
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