Researchers explore how to build shapeshifting, T-1000-style robots

A team of researchers has created small robots that can work collectively, changing shape and shifting between solid and “fluid-like” states — a concept reminiscent of the T-1000 robotic assassin from “Terminator 2.”

Led by Matthew Devlin of UC Santa Barbara, the team published their work in Science, discussing the idea of cohesive collectives of robotic units that can take on any form with various physical properties.

Inspired by tissues in embryos, Otger Campàs, a professor at Max Planck Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics, explained that the robots have motorized gears for movement, magnets for attachment, and photodetectors to receive instructions from a polarized flashlight.

Campàs noted that while the robots are currently around 5 centimeters in diameter, the goal is to miniaturize them to 1 or 2 centimeters, overcoming size and power challenges.