The dream of nanobots
A robot that can change its shape, navigate through different environments, perform specific tasks, and then degrade without consequences is the dream of many experts. After all, that is exactly what we want from the army of nanobots that will cure all our diseases in the future, but at present, a group of researchers under the wing of MIT has created a miniature robot that folds itself and moves using magnetic fields.
Robots beyond the assembly line
Robots can do much more for us than we imagine. Assembling a car on a production line is a job that borders on the traditional for a robot, but today we can also see them directing traffic, exploring other planets, restoring lost limbs, imitating animals, educating, and of course, improving our health. In this last point, the benefits would be much larger if advanced miniaturization processes were developed. The world of nanotechnology has multiple challenges, but one of the most important is to combat conditions directly inside our body, attacking tumors at their origin, transporting medicine with greater precision or repairing damaged tissue. We haven't gotten to that yet, however, the latest development from MIT takes a step in the right direction.
Inside the origami robot
The small robot has no official name, but its presentation video calls it "robot origami", and if we consider its capabilities, it fits perfectly. Basically we are facing a robot that folds itself, walks, swims, and degrades when it fulfills its mission. Its design is based on a neodymium magnet and PVC trapped in two structural layers (made of polystyrene or paper) cut with laser. Once the robot is placed on a heat source, the PVC contracts and the structural layers fold obeying the laser cuts. The origami robot needs less than a minute to reach its complete form, and thanks to a series of electromagnetic coils combined with the aforementioned magnet, it manages to move at a speed that reaches four centimeters per second.
The robot's weight is 0.31 grams and it measures 1.7 centimeters per side, but that doesn't prevent it from moving twice its own weight. Once its work is done, the origami robot dissolves in an acetone bath, leaving behind only the neodymium magnet. The researchers admit that it will be more difficult to make the robot dissolve in water, but not impossible. Another future option is to integrate sensors that will enable fully autonomous operation, and with the appropriate level of miniaturization, the idea of a robot that cures us from inside won't be so far-fetched...
