If you thought the movie Transformers was mere science fiction, you might have been correct last year. It has turned out team of researchers from Harvard and MIT have developed a new kind of robot – one that is capable of folding and unfolding itself, much like origami.

“Getting a robot to assemble itself autonomously and actually perform a function has been a milestone we’ve been chasing for many years,” researcher Robert J. Wood said in a press release

Even though they don’t look like much, this is actually a great achievement and first of its kind.

What is the use for this? Well, first thing to come to mind is that they will make great toys. But in a world where space is becoming less and less, we can build machines that can fold up to smaller bits and tuck themselves away when not in use. For me, I still think it is cool to see a real life Transformer. Autobots!