Scientists at the Chinese University of Hong Kong have created a robot that can shift between solid and liquid states, and has been filmed escaping from a miniature jail cell. The team, led by Dr Chengfeng Pan, has been inspired by sea cucumbers’ ability to alter their tissue stiffness and has developed a robot that can swap states to whatever it needs.
Magnetically Actuated Miniature Machines
This new robot can change its shape and navigate tight spaces, allowing it to perform tasks that traditional robots cannot. Its ability to change states is achieved through a material that can shift between solid and liquid under the influence of a magnetic field, which the authors call a “magnetoactive solid-liquid phase transitional machine.”
To create the robot, the team used gallium, which has a melting point of just 29.8 °C (85.6 °F). The team added neodymium-iron-boron magnetic microparticles to the gallium, which makes the material responsive to an alternating magnetic field, so the robot can change states by heating up the material through induction.
Potential Applications
The team is exploring applications such as targeted drug delivery and removing foreign objects from the body. The robot’s ability to change its shape and navigate tight spaces makes it well suited for medical procedures and surgeries, particularly in hard-to-reach areas of the body.
Additionally, the robot’s ability to change state could also be used in industrial settings, such as inspecting pipes and machinery in tight spaces.
Search and Rescue and Environmental Monitoring
Another potential application of this technology is in search and rescue operations. The robot’s ability to change its shape and navigate tight spaces could make it useful for searching for survivors in collapsed buildings or narrow crevices. The robot’s ability to change states could also be used for environmental monitoring, such as exploring difficult-to-reach areas of the ocean or deep underground mines.
Space Exploration and Construction
This technology could also be used in space exploration. The robot’s ability to change states could be useful for exploring difficult-to-reach areas of other planets and moons, such as deep craters or narrow crevices. In construction and maintenance of infrastructure such as bridges and buildings, where the robot’s ability to change shape and navigate tight spaces could be useful for inspecting and repairing these structures.
Ethical Implications
As with any new technology, it is important to ensure that it is used responsibly and ethically. The team’s research is a proof of concept, and it’s important to consider the scalability of this technology, if it can be scaled it could lead to new developments in robotics and open up new possibilities for future robot design. The team’s work demonstrates the potential of this technology and it is encouraging that they are actively exploring practical applications for it.
Challenges
The team at the Chinese University of Hong Kong is now working on improving the robot’s capabilities and making it more practical for real-world use. One of the challenges they are facing is the phase change taking longer in liquids than in air because it loses heat faster to the environment. To overcome this, they are working on creating robots with higher melting points and longer phase change times to make them more suitable for use in the human body.
Another challenge is the robot’s speed and load capacity. Currently, the robot’s speed is slow and its “high load capacity” is only 30 kilograms (66 pounds), making it not very threatening. The team is working on increasing the robot’s speed and load capacity, so it can perform more tasks and handle heavier loads.
The concept of robots that can change between solid and liquid states is not new, but the team’s approach of using magnetic fields to control the phase transition is unique. This could open new possibilities for future robot design and lead to new developments in robotics. The team’s research is a proof of concept, and it’s important to consider the scalability of this technology, if it can be scaled it could lead to new developments in robotics and open up new possibilities for future robot design.
