US researchers, inspired by the Japanese paper folding art of origami, have developed a “Transformer” robot that can assemble itself from a flat sheet and crawl away, without human intervention.

The self-folding prototype, described in the journal Science, was devised by a joint team from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University. Rob Wood, a Harvard engineering professor who was one of the project leaders, said: "Getting a robot to assemble itself autonomously and actually perform a function has been a milestone we've been chasing for many years."

The Transformer robot starts off as a sheet of stiff paper with folding hinges made from “shape memory” plastic. In response to a signal, its microprocessor brain activates small electric circuits to heat the hinges – triggering the plastic to contract and pull the whole structure into shape. Then, once it is cooled, small electric motors power the robot to crawl away.

The researchers envisage a huge range of potential uses for the technology, from cheap manufacturing of everyday robots to more exotic applications where flatness would be a virtue because space for delivery is tight.

Sam Felton, a Harvard PhD candidate who was part of the development team, said: "Imagine a ream of dozens of robotic satellites sandwiched together so that they could be sent up to space and then assemble themselves remotely once they get there. They could take images, collect data and more."

The prototype robot is made from simple and readily available materials, Mr Felton added. Its components together cost about $100.

Now the principle has been demonstrated, the robot’s performance could be improved by using more expensive materials. For instance the batteries, which in the prototype stick up and prevent the robot having a really low profile, could be replaced with a printed flat power source.

With further development the origami-based technology could potentially produce complex robots quickly that are scalable to different sizes and also very strong for their weight.

Daniela Rus, director of MIT's computer science and artificial intelligence laboratory, said: "The exciting thing is that . . . this device has computation embedded in the flat, printed version. When these devices lift up from the ground into the third dimension, they do it in a thoughtful way."

At present the unfolding is a one-way process – once assembled, the robot cannot push itself back into a flat sheet. But reversible folding might be possible using two-way shape memory materials.

Mr Wood said: “Folding allows you to avoid the ‘nuts and bolts’ assembly approaches typically used for robots or other complex electromechanical devices and it allows you to integrate components while flat.”

The self-assembling origami technology has interesting parallels with 3D printing, a technique that is beginning to revolutionise manufacturing. The 3D printing technique works by laying down successive thin layers of material, origami by folding thin sheets. The benefit of the origami-based technique is that it can produce results more quickly.

Financial Times