IMAGE CREDIT AISHWARYA PANTULA JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
Scientists at Johns Hopkins University say that they may have developed a new gelatinous robot that could be used someday to cure diseases. The robot worm is powered by nothing more than temperature change and its developers boast that it brings “a kind of intelligence” to the field of soft robotics.
So, think about that for a minute. Someday you might have a doctor stick little jelly worms – like the candies – into your body to treat cancer of heart disease. The worms would crawl around inside of your body and “fix” whatever needs to be treated.
They key here is that the worms are made from gelatinous materials, as opposed to metals or plastics.
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“It seems very simplistic but this is an object moving without batteries, without wiring, without an external power supply of any kind—just on the swelling and shrinking of gel,” said senior author David Gracias, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Johns Hopkins University. “Our study shows how the manipulation of shape, dimensions and patterning of gels can tune morphology to embody a kind of intelligence for locomotion.”
The researchers explained that water-based gels, which feel like gummy bears, are one of the most promising materials in the field of soft robotics. Researchers have previously demonstrated that gels that swell or shrink in response to temperature can be used to create smart structures. Here, the Johns Hopkins team demonstrated for the first time how swelling and shrinking of gels can be strategically manipulated to move robots forward and backward on flat surfaces, or to essentially have them crawl in certain directions with an undulating, wave-like motion.
The gelbots, which were created by 3D printing for this work, would be easy to mass produce, say the researchers. Gracias foresees a range of practical future applications, including moving on surfaces through the human body to deliver targeted medicines. They could also be marine robots, patrolling and monitoring the ocean’s surface.
Gracias hopes to train the gelbots to crawl in response to variations in human biomarkers and biochemicals. He also plans to test other worm and marine organism-inspired shapes and forms and would like to incorporate cameras and sensors on their bodies.
