Scientists have engineered miniature robots capable of collaborating as a group that can transform their shape and transition between solid and liquid-like states – a notion that may remind some of the fearsome T-1000 robotic killer from “Terminator 2.”

Led by Matthew Devlin from UC Santa Barbara, the research team has recently shared their findings in Science, indicating that the concept of “unified groups of robotic components able to morph into practically any shape with any physical attributes” has long fascinated both the scientific community and the world of fiction.

Otger Campàs, a scholar at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics, revealed to Ars Technica that the team’s inspiration was drawn from embryonic tissues in their attempt to create similarly functioning robots. The robots are equipped with motorized gears for movement within the group, magnets for attachment, and photodetectors for receiving instructions from a polarized flashlight.

Campàs, however, acknowledged that reality is “still a long way from the Terminator scenario”, with size and power constraints yet to be overcome. The robots created by the researchers were just over 5 centimeters in diameter, but the aim is to reduce them to 1 or 2 centimeters, or possibly even smaller.