In the fields of high-end equipment manufacturing and robotics technology, a research achievement inspired by natural organisms has recently stood out. The California black worm—seemingly slimy, segmented, and dwelling on the seabed—may appear unremarkable, but when dozens or even thousands gather, they form a massive, tangled blob that seems to have a life of its own. This unique phenomenon has provided inspiration for new robotic development.

Justin Werfel, head of the Design Emergence Lab at Harvard University's John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and senior research fellow, stated that the wonders of biological systems are astonishing. He is committed to creating a robotic platform inspired by the collective collaboration of black worms to demonstrate that group collaboration is more advantageous than individual efforts in completing tasks.

Recently, the robotic platform developed by the Harvard team won the "Best Paper Award in Mechanisms and Design" at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. Inspired by black worms, the platform consists of soft, elongated, worm-like threads made from synthetic polymer materials capable of quickly entangling and disentangling.

Each robotic "worm" is about one foot long and independently powered. When internal air chambers are pressurized, the robot curls up; when multiple robots approach each other, they entangle into a mass. Similar to living worms, these entangled robots can move as a unified whole and function normally in both terrestrial and aquatic environments.

The long-term goal of the project focuses on studying the dynamics of collective behavior in physical entanglement and imparting these capabilities to artificial systems, enabling them to perform complex tasks such as exploring large spaces, bridging gaps, moving objects, and climbing buildings. Werfel posed the question: "Can physical entanglement not only serve as a means of cohesion but also as a channel for communication and coordination?" He noted that this robotic platform provides a powerful tool for studying such issues.

Additionally, the team plans to develop an untethered version using microfluidics to guide robot movement. In the future, "blobs" composed of numerous independent robots are expected to achieve fully autonomous movement in natural environments. This research achievement undoubtedly brings new development directions and endless possibilities to the fields of high-end equipment manufacturing and robotics technology.