# Colorado State University's TeCoBot prototype: tensegrity robots with claws dock into chains, loops and branches

- Published: 2026-11-13 11:11 UTC
- Section: Machines & Making › Robots
- Tags: TeCoBot, tensegrity robot, modular reconfigurable robot, self-reconfiguring robots, claw docking, compliant robot body, Colorado State University robotics, Jianguo Zhao, multi-robot manipulation, continuum robot
- URL: https://realtech.media/news/rt-1a8edf0718161092afb519aa_colorado_state_university/

**Colorado State University engineers built TeCoBot, a compliant modular robot. Units work alone or dock by claws into different shapes for joint manipulation and movement.**

![Colorado State University's TeCoBot prototype: tensegrity robots with claws dock into chains, loops and branches](https://realtech.media/media/2026/11/b9cc6bd277517860.webp)
*Popular Science*

Engineers at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University, described a modular reconfigurable robot called TeCoBot in a paper on nature.com [1]. The design combines a compliant tensegrity-based body with claw-based connection mechanisms. Each robot can manipulate objects and move on its own, and several robots can self-reconfigure into different morphologies, including chains, loops and branches [1]. The work is a laboratory prototype.

## Tensegrity body and claws

The authors start from a limitation of existing systems. Modular reconfigurable robots usually rely on rigid modules that lack structural compliance, while continuum robots are flexible but cannot self-reconfigure into multi-robot configurations [1]. TeCoBot is meant to combine the advantages of both architectures [1].

In a tensegrity structure, rods are held in place by a web of tensioned cables rather than locked together rigidly. As a result, the body can bend, twist around obstacles or collapse onto itself. The units are 3D-printed, plastic and rubber, and nearly two feet long, with a claw at each end. The claws let one robot grasp another and join it.

## Demonstrated tasks

According to the authors, the robots were tested on coordinated object manipulation and transport, multimodal locomotion, and loco-manipulation in real-world scenarios [1]. A single unit, controlled remotely by an operator, crossed a large branch outdoors. It also rolled over itself repeatedly, climbed a pipe and moved like a snake.

Chained robots climbed onto a desk and picked up a pen, opened a sealed jar, and carried an object across a room. Joined units can move as one body or work independently.

The authors name manufacturing, space exploration and search-and-rescue operations as potential applications [1]. Associate Professor Jianguo Zhao said in a statement that he envisions mostly autonomous teams of tens or even hundreds of such robots that travel to a site and deploy for a specific purpose.

The paper's source data are on figshare. The code, including ESP32 transmitter and receiver firmware and the autonomous visual docking implementation, is on GitHub under an MIT licence [1].

## Sources

1. [nature.com](https://www.nature.com/articles/s42256-026-01335-4)
2. [Popular Science](https://www.popsci.com/technology/robotic-slugs-fuse-together)

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Source: RealTech, realtech.media — https://realtech.media/news/rt-1a8edf0718161092afb519aa_colorado_state_university/