TINY tetrahedrons could one day help humans colonise other worlds, scout out suitable landing spots, build communication masts and erect solar shelters.
A team of NASA scientists has begun manufacturing the first tetrahedral robots, which crawl across the laboratory floor by shape-shifting. These simple structures promise to be able to deal with uneven and unpredictable terrain more easily than wheeled or legged robots, because they can morph to get past obstacles.
The robot, dubbed a TET Walker, has a tetrahedral framework of six struts that can be independently retracted or expanded telescopically, like the legs of a camera tripod, by…
