Robots that change shape and even split into smaller parts to explore unfamiliar terrain could soon be feasible, thanks to new algorithms designed to enable such metamorphic tricks.

Researchers have published definitive control methods for self-reconfigurable robots. Robots using these rules will not fall apart as they change shape or get irreversibly stuck while moving. The rules instruct robots how to roam over terrain, build tall structures to overcome obstacles or enter closed spaces through small tunnels.

Their research paper appears in the September 2004 issue of the International Journal of Robotics Research (IJRR).

Abstract for Generic Decentralized Control for Lattice-Based Self-Reconfigurable Robots IJRR 23:9