Creators envision 'gelbots' crawling through human bodies to deliver medicine
Johns Hopkins University
A gelbot in motion, IMAGE CREDIT: AISHWARYA PANTULA / JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
A new gelatinous robot that crawls, powered by nothing more than
temperature change and clever design, brings "a kind of intelligence"
to the field of soft robotics.
The inchworm-inspired work is detailed in Science
Robotics.
IMAGE CREDIT: AISHWARYA PANTULA /
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
Robots are made almost exclusively of hard materials like metals
and plastics, a fundamental obstacle in the push to create if not more
human-like robots, than robots ideal for human biomedical advancements.
Water-based gels, which feel like gummy bears, are one of the most promising materials in the field of soft robotics. Researchers have previously demonstrated that gels that swell or shrink in response to temperature can be used to create smart structures.
Here, the Johns Hopkins team demonstrated for
the first time, how swelling and shrinking of gels can be strategically
manipulated to move robots forward and backward on flat surfaces, or to
essentially have them crawl in certain directions with an undulating, wave-like
motion.
The gelbots, which were created by 3D printing for this work,
would be easy to mass produce. Gracias forsees a range of practical future
applications, including moving on surfaces through the human body to deliver
targeted medicines. They could also be marine robots, patrolling and monitoring
the ocean's surface.
Gracias hopes to train the gelbots to crawl in response to
variations in human biomarkers and biochemicals. He also plans to test other
worm and marine organism-inspired shapes and forms and would like to
incorporate cameras and sensors on their bodies.
Authors included Aishwarya Pantula, Bibekananda Datta, Yupin
Shi, Margaret Wang, Jiayu Liu, Siming Deng, Noah J. Cowan, and Thao D. Nguyen,
all of Johns Hopkins.
The work was supported by: National Science Foundation (EFMA-1830893).