Scientists create smallest, lightest wireless robot that can transform to suit conditions

Chinese researchers have developed what they say is the world’s smallest and lightest wireless robot that can change form to travel on land or in the air.

Inspired by Lego, it could potentially be used in complex environments like disaster rescue operations, according to the team from Tsinghua and Beihang universities.

Fundamental to the microrobot is a “morphable actuator” – a component that converts energy into force. The researchers said their new actuator could also be used to make medical devices and components for virtual and augmented reality.

“We introduce a synergistic design concept of small-scale continuously morphable actuators,” the team said in a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Machine Intelligence on April 18.

Drawing on the idea of Lego, the actuators can be customised to make versatile machines like robots that can morph between different modes.

“Compared with other known wireless [land-air] robots, our robot has the smallest size, lightest weight and fastest ground movement speed in the world,” said study author Zhang Yihui, a professor of engineering mechanics at Tsinghua University.