Robot Pebbles - MIT developing self-sculpting smart-sand robots

Researchers at the Distributed Robotics Laboratory at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory are developing tiny robots that could self-assemble into functional tools, then self-disassemble after use. Dubbed the "smart sand," the tiny robots (measuring 0.1 cubic cm) would contain microprocessors and EG magnets which could latch, communicate, and transfer power to each other, enabling them to form life-size replicas of miniature models. https://groups.csail.mit.edu/drl/wiki/index.php?title=Robot_Pebbles