If faced with the choice of sending a swarm of full-sized, distinct robots to space, or a large crew of smaller robotic modules, you might want to enlist the latter. Modular robots, like those depicted in films such as "Big Hero 6," hold a special type of promise for their self-assembling and reconfiguring abilities. But for all of the ambitious desire for fast, reliable deployment in domains extending to space exploration, search and rescue, and shape-shifting, modular robots built to date are still a little clunky. They're typically built from a menagerie of large, expensive motors to facilitate movement, calling for a much-needed focus on more scalable architectures -- both up in quantity and down in size. Scientists from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) called on electromagnetism -- electromagnetic fields generated by the movement of electric current -- to avoid the usual stuffing of bulky and expensive actuators into individual blocks.

A programming language textbook might not be the first thing you'd expect to see when walking into a correctional facility. The creators of the Brave Behind Bars program are hoping to change that. Founded in 2020, Brave Behind Bars is a pandemic-born introductory computer science and career-readiness program for incarcerated women, based out of The Educational Justice Institute at MIT (TEJI). It's taught both online and in-person, and the pilot program brought together 30 women from four correctional facilities across New England to study web design. One of the co-founders, Martin Nisser, a PhD student from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), explains the digital literacy and self-efficacy focused objectives: "Some of the women haven't had the opportunity to work with a computer for 25 years, and aren't yet accustomed to using the internet. We're working with them to build their capabilities with these modern tools in order to prepare them for life outside," says Nisser.

One of the co-founders, Martin Nisser, a PhD student from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), explains the digital literacy and self-efficacy focused objectives: "Some of the women haven't had the opportunity to work with a computer for 25 years, and aren't yet accustomed to using the internet. We're working with them to build their capabilities with these modern tools in order to prepare them for life outside," says Nisser. Even for the students who became incarcerated more recently, it can be difficult to keep up with the fast pace of technological advances, since technical programs in correctional facilities are few and far-between. This scarcity of preparatory programs undoubtedly contributes to high and rising recidivism rates: More often than not, those who are released from prison eventually return. While working at TEJI, Nisser had a fortuitous meeting with his two co-founders, Marisa Gaetz (a PhD student from MIT's Department of Mathematics) and Emily Harburg (co-founder of Brave Initiatives, a nonprofit that develops coding bootcamps for young women).

After a summer of billionaires in space, many people have begun to wonder when they will get their turn. The cost of entering space is currently too high for the average citizen, but the work of PhD candidate Martin Nisser may help change that. His work on self-assembling robots could be key to reducing the costs that help determine the price of a ticket. Nisser's fascination with engineering has been a consistent theme throughout a life filled with change. Born to Swedish parents, he spent a decade in Greece before moving to the UAE, and eventually to Scotland for his undergraduate degree.

From Star Trek's replicators to Richie Rich's wishing machine, popular culture has a long history of parading flashy machines that can instantly output any item to a user's delight. While 3D printers have now made it possible to produce a range of objects that include product models, jewelry, and novelty toys, we still lack the ability to fabricate more complex devices that are essentially ready-to-go right out of the printer. A group from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) recently developed a new system to print functional, custom-made devices and robots, without human intervention. Their single system uses a three-ingredient recipe that lets users create structural geometry, print traces, and assemble electronic components like sensors and actuators. "LaserFactory" has two parts that work in harmony: a software toolkit that allows users to design custom devices, and a hardware platform that fabricates them.

One of the biggest challenges with swarms of robots is manufacturing and deploying the swarm itself. Even if the robots are relatively small and relatively simple, you're still dealing with a whole bunch of them, and every step in building the robots or letting them loose is multiplied over the entire number of bots in the swarm. If you've got more than a few robots to handle, it starts to get all kinds of tedious. The dream for swarm robotics is to be able to do away with all of that, and just push a button and have your swarm somehow magically appear. We're not there yet, but we're getting close: At IROS this month, researchers from the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard presented a paper demonstrating an autonomous collective robotic swarm that can be manufactured in a single flat composite sheet.