A video from a Chinese research team is currently causing a stir in the scientific world. On display: a robot in the form of a metal that can change shape and free itself from its prison. The scientists see promising applications for their development.
The robot, which is based on a toy figure, is only a few millimeters in size. As the researchers show in their video, magnetic impulses enable it to try to escape from a specially constructed cage. Although losing a few drops of body weight in the process, the figurine managed to flow out from between the bars and regain its full shape in an eight-minute period.
Carries 30 times its own weight
As the scientists around Li Zhang of the Chinese University of Hong Kong explained, the little man consists of a mixture of the liquid metal gallium and microscopic pieces of magnetic material made of neodymium, iron and boron. was strong enough to carry an object 30 times its own mass.
The researchers worked with magnets to soften it, stretch it, move it or make it crawl as needed. In particular, they used tailor-made magnetic fields to apply forces to the robot’s small magnetic parts, moving them and deforming the metal in different directions. “No other material I know of can change its stiffness so much,” study co-author Carmel Majidi told Matter magazine.
Movie “Terminator” as inspiration
To then return the male to its original form, the scientists were inspired by the movie “Terminator 2”; even then director James Cameron used the idea of liquid crystals to make the killing machine flow through steel gratings. To mimic this, the researchers used a trick: they sent the liquid metal into a ready-made mold. However, the video should be taken more as a tribute to the director and not as an example of a realistic application.
Technology of the future or just science fiction?
In fact, the material should be used in completely different areas, especially in places that are very difficult to access. For example, a liquefied robot could replace a lost propeller in a spacecraft by flowing into place and then solidifying, according to Zhangh. But the technology also shows promise in medicine and could be used to dispose of swallowed toxic objects.
Here’s how a robot can “recover” objects in a human stomach:
However, for use in living stomachs, researchers would first need to develop methods to accurately track the robot’s position at every step of the procedure and ensure patient safety, Zhang said.
Source: Krone
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