- Title: AI-designed 'metamachines' keep moving after damage
- Date: 27th March 2026
- Summary: EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES (MARCH 25, 2026) (Reuters) (SOUNDBITE) (English) SAM KRIEGMAN, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, SAYING: "The problem is that the design space, the space of possible robots you can build with these modules with just a few modules is absolutely enormous. So just with two modules, you can make almost 500 different two part design
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- Keywords: AI Northwestern University artificial intelligence legged robot metamachines robots
- Location: EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES
- City: EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES
- Country: US
- Topics: North America,Science
- Reuters ID: LVA00A724925032026RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Researchers at Northwestern University have developed modular robots designed with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) that can keep moving outdoors even after losing parts, in a step toward machines that can better adapt to damage and unpredictable terrain, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"We are making robots that are made of robots, which is why I call them metamachines," Sam Kriegman, assistant professor at Northwestern University, told Reuters.
"And this means that if one part of the body is damaged or lost to injury, the rest of the body is fine. It survives. It continues to function."
The team used an AI-driven evolutionary algorithm to generate and test body plans in simulation, selecting the best performers and iterating on them in a process modelled on natural selection. Researchers said the system produced unusual designs that differed from standard human- or dog-like robots and were optimized for efficient movement.
"(With) just with two modules, you can make almost 500 different two part designs. With up to five modules, there are already hundreds of billions of possible valid body plans you can build," added Kriegman.
"You don't know which design is good or bad until you give it the opportunity to learn... And this is where AI comes in."
The resulting "legged metamachines" are built from half-meter-long modular units, each containing its own motor, battery and computer. A single module can move on its own, but when snapped together with others the machines can run, jump, right themselves after being flipped over and continue operating after damage.
In outdoor tests, three-, four- and five-legged versions traversed gravel, grass, sand, mud, leaves and uneven bricks.
The researchers said the approach points to robots that can be rapidly assembled, repaired and reconfigured, with AI helping discover forms human engineers might not otherwise design.
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