16 June 2015

Self-assembling micro robots

Miniature origami robots capable of "folding" themselves have been created, 
perform actions and disintegrate without leaving a trace

DailyTechInfo based on IEEE Spectrum materials: Origami Robot Folds Itself Up, Does Cool Stuff, Dissolves Into NothingAt the International Conference on Automation and Robotics ICRA 2015, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology demonstrated miniature origami robots created by them, which can independently "curl up", acquire the necessary shape, move, moving on the surface or floating in a liquid, perform some actions and dissolve in the environment, leaving virtually no traces of their stay.


And such robots are a demonstration of the working principles on which even smaller medical robots will be created in the future, which will be able to operate directly inside the human body.

Initially, the robot is a square, weighing 0.31 grams and with a side of 1.7 centimeters, made of a multilayer material with thin-film permanent magnets and one small cubic neodymium magnet fixed on its surface. The basis of the material is a structural layer of special paper or foam, which is laser-cut in the necessary places, and a layer of flexible polyvinyl chloride is applied on top of it. When such a workpiece is placed under a heating element, bends appear in the places of laser trimming due to the reduction of the polyvinyl chloride layer.


The process of such an independent "assembly" of an origami robot takes less than a minute, after which it is "ready for use" and can move under the influence of an external magnetic field at a speed of 3 to 4 centimeters per second.

As can be understood from the above, the design of the origami robot does not contain an engine. During the folding process, an external motor is used to move and perform certain actions by the robot, which acts on a thin layer of magnetic material deposited between other layers of the robot's body. The first part of the external magnetic motor is a neodymium permanent magnet, under the influence of the field of which the robot takes the shape specified during manufacture. The second part of the engine is four coils located below the surface on which the robot will operate. These coils generate alternating magnetic fields that force the robot to move in the desired direction.

The coils produce directional magnetic fields oscillating with a frequency of up to 15 Hertz. This leads to the fact that the forces of magnetic attraction force the robot's limbs to make oscillatory movements, and by changing the configuration of magnetic fields, it is possible to control the movement of each "limb" separately.


By moving its miniature limbs, the origami robot can move, dig and swim in liquid. Thanks to this, the robot is universal, it is not his shoulders that can be entrusted with the performance of a great variety of various tasks. In addition, the process of self-assembly of the robot can be divided into several stages. When the workpiece is heated to a certain temperature, the robot takes the first shape suitable for performing one task, and heating it to a higher temperature will force the robot to change the shape again, adapted for performing other actions.

When the robot completes the tasks assigned to it, it can be sent to a container with an acetone-containing solvent, in which it will dissolve, leaving behind only a magnet. As a structural layer, a material that dissolves not only in a special solvent, but also in water can also be used, which will greatly simplify the process of recycling used origami robots.

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16.06.2015

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