This bio-inspired robot flies like a drone, rolls like a car, and stands like a meerkat. Caltech's M4 bot is a multifunctional transforming robot that can autonomously assess its environment and select the most effective combination of motions to maneuver. Created by researchers from the California Institute of Technology, M4 is still in the development phase. However, its versatility and adaptability could make it suitable for a wide range of potential applications, such as search and rescue, d

A newly created real-life Transformer is capable of reconfiguring its body to achieve eight distinct types of motion and can autonomously assess the environment it faces to choose the most effective combination of motions to maneuver. The new robot, dubbed M4 (for Multi-Modal Mobility Morphobot) can roll on four wheels, turn its wheels into rotors and fly, stand on two wheels like a meerkat to peer over obstacles, "walk" by using its wheels like feet, use two rotors to help it roll up steep slop