Many animals have evolved the ability to shed parts of their bodies as a survival mechanism: Lizards can detach their tails to escape predators, while crabs might drop an injured claw. Other species can merge their bodies to accomplish a team goal: for instance, many ants can link up to form a bridge to cross a gap on the forest floor or form into the shape of a ball to float on water. Inspired by these capabilities, scientists engineered a thermoplastic material enabling a robotic entity that’s incapacitated by an obstacle—such as a fallen rock—to shed a piece of its “body” to continue onward, OR, to merge with another robot to complete a task otherwise not singularly possible. Unlike the instinctual nature of such animal activity, the robot must assess the situation in real-time, using sophisticated algorithms to analyze all factors. While no future medical application has yet been suggested, the innovation broadens the future possibility of shape-shifting robots.
