Modular robot changes shape and behavior to suit the task at hand

A research team led by Cornell University has demonstrated a bunch of modular robots that move together as one but break apart and reform as a different shape that's better suited to the assigned task or to navigate obstacles.
The modular robot is actually made up of several cubed bots with wheels on four sides developed by the University of Pennsylvania. They attach to each other using magnets and to a central unit sporting camera and a computer for processing the incoming data.
Each cube bot communicates with the central tower over Wi-Fi. The tower's computer runs software that includes perception algorithms for mapping and navigation and "a high-level planner to direct its actions and reconfiguration," all of which help the modular robot collective to autonomously navigate an environment and perform tasks.