MIT M-Blocks

Not for sale

Not for sale (research)Not programmableFlywheelMagnetic cubesSelf-assemblyMIT

Not for saleShipping: N/A.

Remote control: Not possible. Research prototypes.

LEARN MORE (MIT News, 2013) ↗

Overview

Cubes with no external moving parts that move by suddenly braking an internal flywheel, letting them pivot, leap and snap onto one another via edge magnets. Daniela Rus's group built them to show that self-assembling robots could be far simpler than earlier multi-motor designs.

Type: Modular robot · Research & self-reconfiguring
Maker: MIT CSAIL (USA)
Released: 2013
Price: Not for sale
Status: Not for sale (research)
Best for: Professionals & labs
Programming: No programmability

Price and shipping

Research prototypes presented at IROS 2013.

Shipping: N/A. Research prototypes. Not for sale.

Specifications

Category	Modular & reconfigurable · Research & self-reconfiguring
Released	2013
Country	USA
Availability	Not for sale (research)
Sales	4 first-generation M-Blocks modules built (2013) IEEE/RSJ IROS 2013 paper (Romanishin, Gilpin, Rus) ↗
Programmability	No programmability
Built-in autonomy	Reactive · Responds to its surroundings without a map, such as avoiding obstacles or following a person
LLM support	None · No built-in LLM and no SDK to connect one.
Best for	Professionals & labs
Vision sensors	No vision sensors
Actuators	Brushless / direct-drive motors
Audio	No audio
Compute type	Arduino / ESP32 / microcontroller
Remote control	Not programmable
Size	Small cubes (dimensions not published in announcement)
Locomotion	Internal flywheel (up to 20,000 rpm) braked to flip, roll, jump and climb onto other cubes
Compute	Onboard microcontroller per cube
Camera	None
Sensors	Not published
Runtime	Not published
Speed	Not published
SDK	None public