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Made out of gelatin, a gelbot is capable of moving without requiring an extra power source and is reportedly a significant advance in the world of ‘soft robotics,’ or robots that are fashioned out of organic and non-metallic materials.
The gelbot is able to move because of the way its shape, dimensions and patterning of gel are designed. Typically, robots are made almost exclusively of hard materials like metals and plastics, that makes it hard to make more human-like robots, and thus useful for biomedical research.
Water-based gels, which feel like gummy bears, are believed to be extremely promising materials for soft robotics. They rely on the principle that gels that swell or shrink in response to temperature can be used to create smart structures. The swelling and shrinking of gels can be strategically manipulated to move robots forward and backward on flat surfaces, or to have them crawl in certain directions with an undulating, wave-like motion.
The gelbots, which are still experimental, are created by 3D printing and researchers who’ve developed them say they could be used for moving on surfaces through the human body to deliver targeted medicines. They could also be deployed as marine robots, patrolling and monitoring the ocean’s surface.
Scientists hope to train the gelbots to crawl in response to variations in human biomarkers and biochemicals and test other worm and marine organism-inspired shapes and forms that could be designed to incorporate cameras and sensors on their bodies.
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- Made out of gelatin, a gelbot is capable of moving without requiring an extra power source and is reportedly a significant advance in the world of ‘soft robotics,’ or robots that are fashioned out of organic and non-metallic materials.
- The gelbots, which are still experimental, are created by 3D printing and researchers who’ve developed them say they could be used for moving on surfaces through the human body to deliver targeted medicines.
- Scientists hope to train the gelbots to crawl in response to variations in human biomarkers and biochemicals and test other worm and marine organism-inspired shapes and forms that could be designed to incorporate cameras and sensors on their bodies.
