Molecubes are a collection of modular robots created by Hod Lipson and Victor Zykov from Cornell University. A molecube is made of two rotatable halves, one with the microprocessor which represents the intelligence behind the unit, and the other with a motor for rotating the joint. A group of the cubes can be connected into a variety of shapes.
A robot constructed entirely of molecubes would be able to repair itself using extra cubes, and to create a copy of itself using the same number of cubes. Physical self-reproduction of both a three- and a four-module robot was demonstrated. Subsequent open-source development, with support from Microsoft Research and Festo reduced size and weight of the molecubes. Additional molecube types were produced including: hinges, grippers, batteries, wheels, cameras and more.
See also
External links
- Youtube video: Self-replicating blocks from Cornell University
- Youtube video: Festo - Molecubes
- Creative Machines Lab page: Machine self-replication
- GitHub repository: Molecubes - Blueprints, source code and circuit schematics
- molecubes.org website: Detailed build materials and instructions Archived
References
Cornell News Service: "Simple but seminal: Cornell researchers build a robot that can reproduce" Archived https://web.archive.org/web/20050514031501/http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/May05/selfrep.ws.html ↩
Zykov, V., Mytilinaios, E., Adams, B. & Lipson, H. "Self-reproducing machines". Nature 435, 163–164 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/435163a https://doi.org/10.1038/435163a ↩
Zykov, V., S. Mytilinaios, M. Desnoyer, H. Lipson, "Evolved and Designed Self-Reproducing Modular Robotics," IEEE Transactions on Robotics, vol. 23, pp. 308-319, (2007). https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.644.2151&rep=rep1&type=pdf https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.644.2151&rep=rep1&type=pdf ↩
Festo: A programmable robot system https://www.festo.com/rep/en_corp/assets/pdf/Molecubes_en.pdf https://www.festo.com/rep/en_corp/assets/pdf/Molecubes_en.pdf ↩
V. Zykov, A. Chan, and H. Lipson, “Molecbues: An open-source modular robotic kit” in IROS-2007 Self-Reconfigurable Robotics Workshop, (2007). http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.375.5814&rep=rep1&type=pdf http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.375.5814&rep=rep1&type=pdf ↩
Zykov, Victor, W. Phelps, Nicolas Lassabe, and Hod Lipson. "Molecubes extended: Diversifying capabilities of open-source modular robotics" In IROS-2008 Self-Reconfigurable Robotics Workshop, pp. 22-26. (2008). http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.140.4555&rep=rep1&type=pdf http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.140.4555&rep=rep1&type=pdf ↩