MIT's modular robot snake responds to touch

Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have built on a modular robot design that gives a robotic snake unique interactive features. The ChainFORM is an update to MIT's LineFORM, which debuted in late 2015. It was a shape-shifting robot that straightened out into a line and was likened to a robotic snake. Now, researchers at the university's Tangible Media Group have taken things further.

Perhaps more importantly, the ChainFORM is modular. Each module has its own servo motor to enable movement. They are also each equipped with input and output capabilities like touch detection and visual output in the form of lights. The modules connect to form a kind of snake that can be programmed to snap into different shapes. The modules will display different colored lights based on how they are programmed. They can light up based on touch as well. To ensure the modules work well together, MIT researchers invented a way for the robot to know how many modules are connected at any time, according to IEEE Spectrum.

It is still anyone's guess how this technology will be used in the future and where it will show up. The technology is in its early stages, but it is a promising sign for modular robotics. Right now, however, ChainFORM resembles a technology that would be used by children or teenagers to learn about robotics. It certainly has the potential to teach people about robotics by allowing them to build different things and program the modules to act in certain ways. Educational robots and robot kits have been popular recently. The education market is a big one among China makers.