Microrobots imitate the principle of movement of microalgae
The design of flexible robots was peeped at unicellular
Scientists want to borrow the principle of moving these robots from unicellular organisms, Euglen. Details with reference to an article by scientists in the Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids (Arroyoa, DeSimone: Shape control of active surfaces inspired by the movement of euglenids)
cites the official website of the SISSA International School of Advanced Studies: "Soft" (and miniaturized) robots.
The authors of the project write that a number of specific requirements are imposed on a robot working inside the human body. Such devices should be devoid of sharp corners, and their materials should be chemically inert. In addition, the solution of many medical problems (for example, targeted drug delivery to the focus of the pathological process) requires miniaturization, and it leads to a decrease in the effectiveness of many conventional mechanisms. According to scientists, a robot built by analogy with euglenoidea (whose main mode of movement is based on the beating of flagella, but who also know how to change their shape) can be reduced to the required size and at the same time allows the manufacture of materials satisfying physicians.
The streamlined body of the robot is supposed to be made of a material that can shrink at the command of the control system. If the contracting elements (analogous to muscle fibers) are placed not along the longitudinal axis, but at an angle to it, then, as the researchers have shown, this will provide the opportunity to arbitrarily change the shape of the surface. By creating a ring-shaped protrusion on the spindle-shaped body and moving it forward or backward, the robot will be able to move in the right direction.
At the same time, the authors of the new study have not yet described the details of the design. The current models of such micro robots have not yet been created. The article contains theoretical calculations that show the fundamental possibility of controlling the shape of the robot with the help of shrinking elements that are initially placed on a sphere, cylinder or other surface. The creation of real medical robots will require solving a number of other problems, which include the development of a control system, a compact power source and sensors that allow orientation inside the human body. At the same time, non-autonomous surgical robots already exist. They allow you to get close to the surgery site through a small incision and proportionally reduce the movements of the surgeon's hands for more precise manipulations.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru09.12.2013