Scientists have created a robot that can transform into a group of small beads.
According to the inventors, the robot's ability to split itself into many pieces and then snap back together makes it useful for drug delivery.
The human body is full of narrow passages and barriers that are too hard for a robot to see. Micro-scalerobots are small enough to fit in any small space.
The cost of a reduced capacity to carry enough materials to meet the needs of treating entire diseased organs was the reason for their tiny scale.
A shape-changing robot can overcome this issue by transforming into a swarm and then re-forming once it reaches its final destination.
A group of international scientists created a robot from a suspension of iron oxide and oil.
They used rotating, spherical magnets to apply force on the substance so it would tear itself into many pieces.
The researchers created a maze with large and narrow sections to demonstrate the potential usefulness of the robot.
The robot could make it to the end of the maze.
The magnetic control system needs to be strong enough to penetrate human tissue in order to use this invention.
Over the past decade, researchers have applied emerging technology to healthcare. The next step in the field is to make the bodies of tiny bots softer and more flexible.
The researchers say that these types ofrobots can pass through confined spaces inside the human body, such as tissue gaps and blood vessel branches, to deliver cargo with cell level precision and perform micro-manipulations.
The researchers say that soft miniature robots made of fluids, gels, and elastomers are more flexible than robots made from rigid materials.
The paper was published in a scientific journal.
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