Northwestern University engineers have created a remote-controlled, half-millimeter-wide robot that can bend, twist, crawl, walk, turn, and jump. Furthermore, the crab-shaped robot accomplishes this feat without the need of actuators, motors, hydraulics, or power. Lasers are used to control the world’s smallest remote-controlled robot.
The developers used a special shape-memory alloy that, when heated, turns into a specific shape in its “memory.” The findings were reported in the journal Science Robotics in an article titled “Submillimeter-scale multi-material terrestrial robots.”
“Those joints begin in a bent position, similar to a bent knee. “When we locally heat that shape memory alloy at that junction, it will spontaneously shift to restore that initial flat planar geometry,” said John Rogers, the experiment’s lead researcher, via a video conversation with indianexpress.com. At Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering, Rogers is the Louis Simpson and Kimberly Querrey Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Neurological Surgery.
In addition, the researchers constructed robots that were influenced by other species such as inchworms and grasshoppers. The researchers now intend to develop robots that can do a variety of activities.
“The robots must be capable of more than just moving around.” These robots could be used in diagnostic and surgical procedures in the future.
For instance, to clear plaque from congested arteries or something similar. However, such small robots could have a variety of non-surgical and non-medical applications, according to Rogers.
The researchers are also looking for ways to “connect with the robot in a more meaningful way.” The focussed laser beam can currently be regarded of as a means of communication with the robot. It can be used to control the robot in a variety of ways, such as causing it to walk in different directions and at varied rates. The capacity to “hear back” from the robot would be even more advantageous. However, this would necessitate the integration of complicated sensors as well as wireless communication components.
The manufacturing procedures used to manufacture these robots, however, are comparable to those utilized in the integrated circuits sector, according to Rogers. This suggests that in the future, other types of electronic circuits and radios could be built directly into the bodies of robots.
If and when that happens, Rogers envisions a swarm of these gadgets working together to execute complex tasks, communicating with each other and with the operator.
Featured Image: Northwestern University
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