This Clay Robot Can Mold Itself into New Shapes

If the Transformers franchise has taught us anything, it’s that robots should be able to morph into new shapes — and that James Bay shouldn’t be allowed to make movies that toy with our nostalgia. Aside from looking very cool, transforming robots are also versatile. But most real-world examples only have a couple of forms, such as one for driving and one for manipulating objects. This unusual robot designed by researchers from Yale University, however, is made from clay and can mold itself into many new shapes.

This robot is very far away from seeing any kind of action outside of a lab, but it does have some very interesting capabilities. The “body” of the robot is just a lump of inert modeling clay and can’t do anything on its own except act as a paperweight. But when it’s covered in two unique layers of special skin, it becomes something much more special. One layer of skin is lined with inflatable bladders that are common in soft robotics and that provide locomotion when they’re pumped full of air in the right sequence. The other layer of skin has cables running through it that can be tightened to form the clay into different shapes.

The shaping skin can sculpt the modeling clay into many forms, including a sphere, cylinder, and even irregular shapes like a dumbbell. Once it has transformed into the desired shape, the bladder skin can move it along. If it reaches an obstacle, it can then reshape itself as necessary to avoid or overcome that obstacle. That isn’t done autonomously — at least not for now, but it is a very innovative exploration of what’s possible using materials and methodology that are uncommon in robotics.