Robot has seen a lot, but you have seen can work without a battery? Although it may sound weird, but the researchers at Seoul National University in South Korea recently successfully developed in the laboratory can move without the need to power the robot movement up Very rhythmic, non-stop moving like a caterpillar.
Since it does not use batteries or solar energy, what exactly does it do?
Originally, it was inspired by some plants in nature, they can change the shape and size by absorbing the water in the ground or air.A simple example is the pinecone, in humid air, it will choose to "close" the scales shell, Loosens when the air dries, allowing the seed to spread even further, even for the less viable pine cones.
This change is caused by the special structural features of the interior. Researchers found that there are three layers of structure (scales, fibers and core lignin structure) in the pine cone.
When the ambient air is humid, the lateral flanks absorb more water than the medial ones, so there is more expansion and the three-layer structure causes the final flaps to flex inwardly, thus creating a closure, whereas in a dry environment the originally closed flake will proceed due to structural differences Shrink, and open their own.
Although this robot is not made of plant material, it simulates a similar mechanism of motion.According to Seoul National University, robot internal motion is induced by the air humidity response film consisting of nanofibers. When the environment changes, the film is on both sides The difference in water absorption of the material (one layer of water-absorbing layer does not absorb water) causes inconsistent expansion and contraction motions, resulting in bending and eventually robot motion. Based on this principle, researchers made robots of different shapes.
Although such a robot's movement is not fast enough and it seems to be relatively simple nowadays, its advantages are also obvious.As the body size can be very small and the robot can move autonomously without requiring a battery or solar energy, The environment can play its own characteristics.The researchers will be this special robot coated with antibiotics in bacteria-filled Petri dish, found to be able to exercise and sterilization.
To put it another way, if it's inside the body, the drug may be delivered to the target location in this way. Combined with the special environment inside the human body, the micro-robot can even be equipped with sensors to track the body's condition.
Despite being "petite," micro robots do indeed have some usefulness in some respects.According to a report submitted by Seoul National University, micro robots are "light and agile, do not need batteries and can be used in medical, military and industrial fields." And Previously, another magnetless-cell-free robot that they had researched had been similar and in the medical field this new approach would provide a new tool for treating diseases such as oncology.
