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Priya Patel is pioneering a radical rethinking of robotics, moving beyond monolithic machines toward systems that can grow, heal, and adapt like living organisms. Her research centers on **robot metabolism** and **self-assembling modular structures**, challenging the fundamental assumption that robots must remain closed, static systems. In her 2025 paper "Robot metabolism: Toward machines that can grow by consuming other machines," she envisions robots that can incorporate material from their environment—even consuming other machines—to sustain survival and development, a concept that could redefine long-duration autonomy. Her 2024 work "Robot Links: Towards Self-Assembling Truss Robots" tackles the problem of structural recovery by discretizing robots into replaceable, identical modules that can self-assemble after damage. While both papers currently hold 2 citations each, their foundational nature suggests they are early seeds of a transformative paradigm. Patel’s vision of robots that can physically develop, self-repair, and reproduce promises to unlock unprecedented capabilities for space exploration, disaster response, and sustainable manufacturing, positioning her as a bold voice in next-generation robotics.