... or anything you are able to program it to be.
Sounds impossible? Welcome to the strange (little) world of "catoms," also known as "claytronics;" tiny self-assembling and self-arranging robots that act collectively to take whatever shape you choose. This may one day be a game changer. Carnegie Mellon researchers are working on both the hardware (catoms) and the software needed to control them.
This morning I got frustrated with my cell phone because the buttons weren't where I would want them, I kept pressing the wrong thing when trying to navigate the menus and later send a text. It got me thinking: why can't I reconfigure this cell phone to be the way I want it?!? Then I remembered reading a short blurb online ages ago about claytronics and the lightbulb went instantly on: every device we own should be made this way!
Sometimes I want the coffee table in the living room to be something else, to show me the weather or to have a tv that pops up from its top. Sometimes it's just in the way and I want it gone altogether. Carnegie Mellon researchers are working on making my idle thoughts a reality.
They're still at the proof-of-concept stage at this point, nothing small enough has yet been invented but they have giant sized prototypes:
Cubes
A lattice-style modular robot, the 22-cubic-centimeter Cube, which has been developed in the Carnegie Mellon-Intel Claytronics Research Program, provides a base of actuation for the electrostatic latch that has also been engineered as part of this program. The Cube (pictured below, right) also models the primary building block in a hypothetical system for robotic self-assembly that could be used for modular construction and employ Cubes that are larger or smaller in scale than the pictured device.
The design of a cube, which resembles a box with starbursts flowering from six sides, emphasizes several performance criteria: accurate and fast engagement, facile release and firm, strong adhesion while Cube latches clasps one module to another. Its geometry enables reliable coupling of modules, a strong binding electrostatic force and close spacing of modules within an ensemble to create structural stability.
Designed to project angular motion from the faces of its box-like shape, the Cube extends and contracts six electrostatic latching devices on stem assemblies. By this mechanism, the latches of a Cube integrate with latches on adjacent Cubes for construction of larger shapes.
With extension and retraction of stem-drive arms that carry the latches, the module achieves motion, exchanges power and communicates with other Cubes in a matrix that contains many of these devices. Combining these forces of motion, attachment and data coupling, Cubes demonstrate a potential to create intricate forms from meta-modules or ensembles that consist of much greater numbers of Cubes; numbers determined by the scale of Cubes employed in an ensemble of self-construction.
To create motion for a Cube in a matrix of many cubes, a direct-current motor inside the Cube's central frame actuates expansion and contraction of electrostatic latches fixed to the ends of independent worm-drive assemblies. Housed in individual tubes, the assemblies provide arms to support the motion of latches from six sides of the central frame. Linear motion enables the Cube to exploit considerable lateral flexibility for forming shapes within a matrix. The Cube measures 22 cm between faces when fully contracted and 44 cm when fully expanded.
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~claytronics/hardware/cubes.html22 centimeters is about 8 inches or so, right? They need to get it down to 1 millimeter in size and squeeze a tiny processor inside while they're at it... or even smaller (1/10th millimeter might be better).
Thousands of tiny millimeter size computerized gizmos that each know where they are and, most importantly, where they should be inside the structure you have called for... so they know what they're supposed to do and they work cooperatively to make connections with the catoms near them to accomplish the task. Given fast enough motion, each catom being tiny enough and having a display and tiny computer inside it, and energy storage, they could switch on the fly from whatever device you had previously requested into anything else the software was capable of programming it to do.
In a domain of research defined by many of the greatest challenges facing computer scientists and roboticists today, perhaps none is greater than the creation of algorithms and programming language to organize the actions of millions of sub-millimeter scale catoms in a claytronics ensemble.
As a consequence, the research scientists and engineers of the Carnegie Mellon-Intel Claytronics Research Program have formulated a very broad-based and in-depth research program to develop a complete structure of software resources for the creation and operation of the densely distributed network of robotic nodes in a claytronic matrix.
A notable characteristic of a claytronic matrix is its huge concentration of computational power within a small space. For example, an ensemble of catoms with a physical volume of one cubic meter could contain 1 billion catoms. Computing in parallel, these tiny robots would provide unprecedented computing capacity within a space not much larger than a standard packing container. This arrangement of computing capacity creates a challenging new programming environment for authors of software.
...
By providing a design to focus constructive rearrangements of individual nodes, software for the matrix will motivate local cooperation among groups of catoms. This protocol reflects a seamless union between form and functionality in the actuation of catoms. It also underscores the opportunity for high levels of creativity in the design of software for the matrix environment, which manipulates the physical architecture of this robotic medium while directing information through it.
In a hexagonal stacking arrangement, for example, rows of catoms in one layer rest within the slight concavities of catom layers above and below them. That placement gives each catom direct communication with as many as 12 other catoms. Such dynamic groupings provide the stage upon which to program catom motion within local areas of the matrix. Such collective actuation will transform the claytronic matrix into the realistic representations of original objects.
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~claytronics/software/index.htmlI'm waiting on the developments to come with this area of research. Meanwhile, here are some more resources if you're interested:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ClaytronicsProgrammable matter: "matter which has the ability to change its physical properties (shape, density, moduli, optical properties, etc.) in a programmable fashion, based upon user input or autonomous sensing. Programmable matter is thus linked to the concept of a material which inherently has the ability to perform information processing."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programmable_matterModular self-reconfiguring robotic systems: "are autonomous kinematic machines with variable morphology. Beyond conventional actuation, sensing and control typically found in fixed-morphology robots, self-reconfiguring robots are also able to deliberately change their own shape by rearranging the connectivity of their parts, in order to adapt to new circumstances, perform new tasks, or recover from damage.
"For example, a robot made of such components could assume a worm-like shape to move through a narrow pipe, reassemble into something with spider-like legs to cross uneven terrain, then form a third arbitrary object (like a ball or wheel that can spin itself) to move quickly over a fairly flat terrain; it can also be used for making "fixed" objects, such as walls, shelters, or buildings."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-Reconfiguring_Modular_Robotics
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