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The future of robotics may not lie in the clunky androids we\u2019ve been seeing so many of lately<\/a>, but instead in strange, arachnoid conglomerations of sticks that writhe their way across landscapes.<\/p>\n These so-called \u201cmetamachines\u201d kind of look like if you made giant caltrops out of Magnetix and then zapped them with the gift of movement.\u00a0They might sound cute, except that their creators say that their AI algorithm-inspired designs lets them keep persevering even after losing parts of themselves, like a limb that gets hacked off from a horror movie\u2019s killer robot.<\/p>\n In footage<\/a> of the metamachine\u2019s exploits, a researcher bludgeons one with a heavy stick that cuts off its rear half. This would immobilize or maybe even brick a robodog or a humanoid machine. Even so, the thrashing robot continues to crawl forward, unbothered.<\/p>\n Their hardy nature is thanks to their modular design, wherein each of the robot\u2019s leggy protrusions, each half a meter long, are themselves their own robots, connecting to each other with spherical elbow joints. In theory, this makes them incredibly versatile, capable of reconfiguring their forms to navigate tricky environments.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re making robots that are made of robots, which is why I call them metamachines,\u201d Sam Kriegman, a roboticist at Northwestern University and coauthor of a new study<\/a> published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, told Reuters in an interview<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf one part of the body is damaged or lost to injury, the rest of the body is fine,\u201d Kriegman added. \u201cIt survives. It continues to function.\u201d<\/p>\n Northwestern University researchers developed modular robots using AI that can adapt to damage and navigate unpredictable terrain, according to a new study pic.twitter.com\/RpzXkz6zqx<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Reuters (@Reuters) March 27, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n The researchers liken their design to a new \u201cspecies\u201d of machines, with chameleon-esque adaptability. Continuing the animal analogies, a university release<\/a> characterizes the metamachines as able to \u201cundulate like seals, bound like lizards, or spring like kangaroos.\u201d (Outwardly, the appearance is more like an abortive spider.) And besting many beetles, the robots can \u201cinstinctively\u201d flip themselves upright if they\u2019re turned over, and even show off with acrobatics like pirouetting in the air.<\/p>\n \u201cWe really wanted to create robots that were more resilient and that could evolve,\u201d Kriegman said. \u201cWe evolved these robots to move themselves through the world with a little bit of athleticism, so more athletic than any other modular robot has been on land. More athletic than any other evolved robot has been.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s not the only research exploring modular robots. A team from Columbia University developed a prototype robot platform called a \u201cTruss Link<\/a>\u201d that can similarly combine with each other to form a larger unit capable of crawling and even climbing up obstacles. At NASA, engineers have designed a snake-like robot<\/a> to plunge into the vents on the surface of Saturn\u2019s moon Enceladus. These unorthodox designs suggests that there may be useful alternatives out there to the typical bipedal and quadrupedal designs that dominate the public\u2019s imagination.<\/p>\n