cs.ROOct 22, 2026

Robotic Budding: From Homogeneous Cells to Diverse Morphologies in Physical Self-Reproduction

Authors: Siyuan Zhang, Junyan Liu, Wanglin He, Hod Lipson

Organizations: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.

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Abstract

Physical self-reproduction in modular robots remains difficult because a robot must not only move, but also collect, align, dock, and separate modules reliably in hardware. Taking inspiration from how genetically identical cells form the varied tissues of an organism, we introduce a single standardized robotic module that combines a magnetic docking interface with two actuated joints and folds from a flat, two-dimensional configuration into three-dimensional structures. Modules of this single design can be assembled into two morphologies: a three-module "trilobite" and a five-module "seal". Using a small set of discrete motion commands, a human operator steers an assembled parent robot to dock magnetically with a sequence of spare modules, which are assembled into a second, structurally identical individual that then separates from the parent. Because the parent retains all of its original modules, this is a budding-style form of physical reproduction. Here, we report preliminary hardware demonstrations of this full process on both morphologies. We discuss the current scope of the system, including its present reliance on direct human teleoperation rather than autonomous control, and outline directions toward autonomous execution of this process and repeated validation across a larger number of independent trials.

Figures & tables

Fig. 1 : Internal structural layout and component allocation of an individual module, highlighting the dual-servo drive mechanism, onboard electronics, and magnetic docking interfaces (red dots).
Fig. 2 : (a) A single module folded to 90∘90^{\circ} between its two segments, illustrating the joint range described in Section II . (b) The assembled three-module trilobite morphology. (c) The assembled five-module seal morphology.
Fig. 3 : Control system communication architecture. The operator issues commands from a browser-based control terminal on a laptop (Controller), connected over a USB serial link to a host microcontroller (Host). The Host wirelessly broadcasts each command to the modules, and each module sends a periodic heartbeat signal back to the Host over the same wireless link to report its status.
Fig. 4 : Eight stages of the five-module seal reproduction process, ordered from left to right and top to bottom. The parent sequentially acquires five initially loose environmental modules (I–VI). The acquired modules then fold from two-dimensional configurations into a three-dimensional offspring while still connected to the parent (VII). Selective magnetic separation produces two independent five-module seal robots (VIII): the persistent parent contains the five original modules, and the offspring contains the five acquired modules.
Fig. 5 : Six stages of the three-module trilobite reproduction process, ordered from left to right and top to bottom. The parent sequentially acquires three initially loose environmental modules (I–IV). The acquired modules then fold from two-dimensional configurations into a three-dimensional offspring while still connected to the parent (V). Selective magnetic separation produces two independent three-module trilobite robots (VI): the persistent parent contains the three original modules, and the offspring contains the three acquired modules.
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