{{Short description|Collection of modular robots}} thumb|400px|right|Original molecubes in motion '''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.<ref name="CubeRobotCNS">[https://web.archive.org/web/20050514031501/http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/May05/selfrep.ws.html Cornell News Service: "Simple but seminal: Cornell researchers build a robot that can reproduce"] Archived</ref> Physical self-reproduction of both a three- and a four-module robot was demonstrated.<ref name="CubeRobotNature">Zykov, V., Mytilinaios, E., Adams, B. & Lipson, H. "Self-reproducing machines". Nature 435, 163–164 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/435163a</ref><ref>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</ref> Subsequent open-source development, with support from Microsoft Research and Festo<ref>Festo: A programmable robot system https://www.festo.com/rep/en_corp/assets/pdf/Molecubes_en.pdf</ref> reduced size and weight of the molecubes.<ref name="CubeRobot2007">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</ref> Additional molecube types were produced including: hinges, grippers, batteries, wheels, cameras and more.<ref name="CubeRobotIROS">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</ref>
== See also == *Self-reconfiguring modular robot
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * YouTube video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZwTcLeelAY Self-replicating blocks from Cornell University] * YouTube video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUJkX8fn1jY Festo - Molecubes] * Creative Machines Lab page: [https://www.creativemachineslab.com/self-replication.html Machine self-replication] * GitHub repository: [https://github.com/VictorZykov/molecubes Molecubes - Blueprints, source code and circuit schematics] * molecubes.org website: [https://web.archive.org/web/20111128083651/http://www.molecubes.org/ Detailed build materials and instructions] Archived
Category:Modular design Category:Open-source robots Category:Multi-robot systems Category:Self-replicating machines