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Posted on 20230125 17:06
(Source: Playback / YouTube video)
Scientists have developed a robot that can switch between solid and liquid states. In the experiment, the robot was filmed escaping in the solid form of a miniature cell with very closely spaced rods. The creators claim they were inspired by sea cucumbers’ ability to change the stiffness of their tissues.
Among the main capabilities of the invention, changing the physical state to the required state is the one that draws the most attention. The robot is the creation of a team led by Chinese University of Hong Kong researcher Chengfeng Pan, who says that with this experiment it’s possible to see how robots can provide lifesaving services to people: “Robots give the ability to move between Switching them between the liquid and solid states gives them more functionality,” Pan said in a statement.
The feat relies on a material that can switch between solid and liquid under the influence of a magnetic field, in what the authors call a “solidliquid magnetoactive phasechange machine.” To make it, they needed a metal that would turn into a liquid at room temperature.
Phase change materials have been made before, but they required external heat sources or electrical currents to transform. Neither is ideal if you want to send the robot to a hardtoreach place, e.g. B. in the human body.
The article, originally published on the Matter portal, reports that in addition to the video’s achievements, its little robot can jump 21millimeter (0.8inch) gaps and scale walls when solid, and subdivide itself “Now we’re using this material system in a more practical way to solve some very specific medical and engineering problems,” Pan said.
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