14 DAY TRIAL // Researchers with the Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control at ETH Zürich have developed an amazing cube that can perform a variety of un-cube-like operations, such as balancing on its corner, balancing on its edge, and rotate at very high angular velocities. The video above is absolutely stunning, and a testament that the machine apocalypse is nearly upon us.
The cube, called Cubli, measures 15 × 15 × 15 centimeters (roughly 6 x 6 x 6 inches), and contains reaction wheels similar to those used to maintain spacecraft orientation in space on three of its faces. The high performance reaction wheels enable the cube to spin very fast and then break almost instantly.
Lead researchers Gajamohan Mohanarajah and Raffaello D'Andrea say that Cubli can be made to walk by controlling three types of motion - jumping up, balancing, and controlled falling. The small robot is even able to maintain its equilibrium on a steeply-angled surface, as the video demonstrates.
Cubli cannot move forward without a sharp push from its reaction wheels. However, when it moves, it creates an eerie feeling of separation from reality, at least for me. The fact that it can go from standing on one of its sides to balancing on one of its edges, and then to a perfect equilibrium on a corner is simply groundbreaking.