The robot can shapeshift between liquid and solid states to navigate tricky environments.
As if it were the movie ‘ Terminator 2 ‘ , scientists have managed to create a robot that can change from liquid to solid in order to escape from environments that deserve it.
The research team from the Chinese University of Hong Kong has managed to create a robot that escapes from a cell by turning into a liquid and then returning to its initial solid state.
Science fiction
In their study published in the journal Matter , the scientists pointed out that they used magnetic particles in gallium , a metal with a very low melting point (29 ° C) to be able to carry out what they have called a “solid-phase transition magnetoactive machine”. liquid”.
The robot called MPTM is based on a magnetic field that induces electric current to generate heat and be able to change state.
“The figure is similar in size to a commercial LEGO figurine: approximately five millimeters wide and one centimeter high. A magnetic field is used to melt it into a liquid and remove it from the enclosure,” says Carnegie Mellon University mechanical engineering professor Carmel Majidi, who also participated in the project.
The property also allows them to jump 20 times their height, rotate on itself, and walk at a speed of one meter per second.
medical purposes
The authors of the project point out that these robots could provide security and lifesaving services that others cannot.
“Now, we are advancing this system of materials in more practical ways to solve some very specific medical and engineering problems. The temperature of the human body means that a metal with a higher melting point than gallium will be required , and the phase change takes longer in liquids than in air because it loses heat more quickly to the environment. Director of the Chengfeng Pan studio.