Scientists at the University of Friborg in Switzerland have developed a new robot modeled on an earthworm that will in the future be able to crawl through the intestines to detect diseases or search underground for buried people. Because the robot is made of soft material, it can penetrate small cavities and move in all directions on any surface, the university announced on Monday.
Unlike their biological counterparts, previous worm robots contained hard parts such as motors. This made navigating tight spaces more difficult, according to the scientific publication of the robot in the journal “Advanced Materials”.
To remedy this, the researchers from the Polymer Chemistry and Materials group of the Adolphe Merkle Institute of the University of Freiburg, together with a team from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, USA, built the new robot from so-called soft polymers. Polymers are chemical compounds that also make up plastic. This allows the robot to squeeze through tight spaces and perform deformations that are not possible with conventional robots with a rigid body.
Such devices can perform various functions. From underground search and rescue operations, to biomedical procedures such as endoscopy and colonoscopy, to underground exploration and sewer inspection.
Alternating contraction and expansion
Like an earthworm, the new robot moves by alternately contracting and expanding its body. When the polymers are heated, they change shape. The individual segments of the robot can be electrically heated individually and thus activated, so that the movements of the robot can be controlled very precisely.
But before the robot can be deployed, the technology still needs to be developed further. At its current stage of development, the worm robot is still very slow and its movements require large amounts of energy, the statement said.
Source: Krone
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