Transformers: From dream to reality?

Catalina M Ramirez Nazario

The generation that is cursing the university right now, has possibly grown with the image of cars and planes transform into alien robots and fighting to protect the human race.  The transformers TV series, had most kids I know go crazy with the changes and the fights; but what is it that keeps this series alive? Even when you grow up, you still have that excitement and thrill when you see Transformers. Now, the real question is: how possible is it really to have transformers that resemble the one in the series and the movies? It is possible! A transformer in the series is an alien robot that resembles humans, but can change its shape from a car into this giant robot. If we were to turn this into a more realistic term of calling a robot a “transformer, then we could say that it is a robot that can change its shape to perform different tasks. 

In actuality, building a transformer would not be impossible, but it would be highly improbable. We first have to define that there are three factors to consider as basics to the possibility of building a transformer robot like in the movies: size, energy and biped walking. We will first start of by explaining the size factor. Making a robot just as big as the ones we see in the movie is one of the challenges of design, but it is also a design to their wallets. Constructing a plan just for them is not a bad idea, they just need more men to execute and a little more of planification. Another aspect to be considered is how to provide energy to such a big object. There are many different ways to obtain energy: coal, gas, wind, tidal, etc. This all need to be considered thinking specifically which can produce enough energy for a 16 feet or 28 feet transformer robot? A good option to answer this question is to utilize hydraulic energy. This source of energy can be powerful enough for a robot of this magnitude, but there are several complications to implementing the systems such as tubes and pumps that will move the water throughout the robot. One very big complication is that the hydraulic systems will have to be implemented alongside the electrical wiring and pieces, without having the water damage them, even when the robot transforms and moves all of its parts to adapt to its shapes. This is not a problem for the movie characters because they have their own alien power source that gives them “life” and energy; which is called the cube. Another fact to consider is how to make a robot walk like a biped for a prolonged period of time. Experts in engineering and physics have been trying to work out this problem, with several prototypes; but the farthest they have gone has been Honda with a robot called ASIMO. This is a robot that walks like a biped, but his approximate height is 4.3 feet and his walking speed is 2.7km/hr and can run up to a speed of 6 km/hr. This is the farthest technology has gone in creating a biped robot, and it can only function for a time of 40 minutes to 1 hour. If we compare this to the size of a Transformer, we see that our actual technology is far from making this a possibility in a near future. 

 Figure 1: Honda’s ASIMO robot, walking down the stairs. 

Although making a Transformer of the magnitude of those in the movies and the series is, at the present time, very difficult; there are several robots in science which are designed to transform to perform several functions or to adapt to their surroundings. These types of robots are divided into three main areas: self-configuring robot, chain robots, and lattice robots. Describing a self-configuring robot, we see that the robot is made up of a lot of small modules that move together to form a robot that adapts to different surroundings, but their usually only program to be good at doing specific tasks. A good example for this type of robot is the concept used for the Mars Rovers. Chain robots are a series of modules or robots which are joined together; they look mostly like a spider or a snake. An example of this type of robot is NASA’s Snakebot. 

Figure 2: NASA’s Snakebot

Now, for the last classification for robots, we have the Lattice robots. This type is composed of a lot of small robots that have their own way of functioning, but combine to work as a bigger robot. An example of this is more of a Terminator T-1000 or a bank of fish uniting to form a big arrow in the Nemo movie; it is not so much seen as a Transformer like in the movie, but it does fulfill the purpose of the transformer. 

Transformers are a child’s dream for a lot of people. While scientists have contemplated the different ways to make Transformer, it is not viable or it does not have a greater reason to spend the kind of money it needs to be done. Transforming robots exist already and are definitely possible! It is up to tomorrow’s physicists and engineers to turn some kids dream into a reality. 

References: 

Wilson, Tracy V. How Real Transformers Work. How Stuff Works; A Discovery Company. Internet. http://science.howstuffworks.com/real-transformer2.htm

HSU, Jeremy. NASA’s Shape-Shifting Robot Is “Real” Transformer. LiveScience. June 25, 2009. Internet. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,529059,00.html