Hasta La Ideas

pimg alt=”0selfold.jpg” src=”http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/0selfold.jpg” width=”468″ height=”207″ class=”mt-image-none” style=”” //p

pWhat’s that photo of? Self-folding origami! Well, kind of. The Soft Robotics “Programmable Matter” developed by researchers at the A HREF=”http://micro.seas.harvard.edu/research.html” Harvard Microrobotics Laboratory/A under Professor Robert Wood consists of a sheet material lined with actuators. Which essentially means the darn things can fold themselves up in a predetermined way./p

pThe HML guys’ terse description of the project tells you why they went into microrobotics research and not, say, P.R.:/p

blockquoteWe are creating multi-functional materials with embedded sensing, actuation, communication, and computation. Our programmable matter sheets are currently self-reconfigurable and capable of forming multiple user-defined structural components and objects./blockquote

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pSure the technology’s in a primitive state, but man, think about how wicked this could be: You get a flat-pack in the mail, pull it out of the envelop, push the button, and boom–new iPhone! …And if that’s still quite some years off, well, I’d settle for a cool little crane./p

pvia A HREF=”http://www.boingboing.net/2010/06/29/what-would-you-use-s.html” boing boing/Abr /
/pa href=”http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/i_just_got_back_from_the_future_where_the_products_assemble_themselves_16848.asp”(more…)/a
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