Development of a prototype self-configuring building block

The paper presents the concept and construction of a prototype self-configuring building block for potential application in smart dynamic structure. The design contains several modular self-configuring blocks with integrated controllers, gear trains, extending arms and magnetic latches. The structure could be reconfigured via the connection and disconnection of magnetic latch between the modules. Through the coordination of the individual cubes themselves, the entire structure can reassemble via pushing and pulling the individual components into almost any desired shape. Information as to the current location or the next necessary movement could be passed from cube to cube by a physical connection between the cubes or remotely through broadcast signals. To provide the hardware strategy, we present the mechanical design of the self-configure modules and their latch mechanism of Halbach array. In the end, we will discuss our proposed application in dynamic building structure and storage management.