The shape of the exoskeleton dictates the robot’s means of locomotion — the structure moves by controlling Primer using magnets, but it can fly when it’s a glider, roll when it turns into a wheel-like structure and float on water when it’s a boat. It can also simply dive into a body of water to loosen the exoskeleton’s folds and set Primer free for the next exoskeleton in line.
The goal is to be able to create one machine that can perform numerous tasks. Shuguang Li, a team member and one of the authors of the study the team published, explained: “Imagine future applications for space exploration, where you could send a single robot with a stack of exoskeletons to Mars. The robot could then perform different tasks by wearing different ‘outfits.'” In addition to space exploration, it sounds like the robot would also excel in search and rescue, since it can change its structure based on the environment it has to move in.
