Watch these robot blocks cluster together with a hive mind

MIT researchers first showed off its self-assembling “M-Block” robot cubes in 2013 — and this week, they shared a video of what they’re calling M-Blocks 2.0 (via TechCrunch). Like the first version of the blocks, M-Blocks 2.0 move by generating momentum with an internal flywheel, and can climb on and around each other using magnets:

But these new blocks also have a “barcode-like” system on each block face that they can “read” to do things like follow a specific path:

And they can also act with a hive mind to find each other and cluster together:

Though this might seem terrifying, there are more benevolent expectations for the blocks right now. MIT News reports that the researchers envision...

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