EUROPE: Research from Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Lab of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) claimed to have developed an origami robot capable of healing and dissolving inside a human body. The innovative robot is expected to play a key role in performing various medical tasks in the future.
The team has been developing the robot since 2012 and unveiled it at the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) International Conference on Robotics and Automation.
According to the researchers, the robot has the ability to become small enough to fold into a human body. There, it will be perform medical task and after that it dissolves itself. A video of the robot, which weighs just one third of a gram, has been released by the researchers. The video demonstrates the robot which starts off as a sheet of PVC.
When that sheet is placed on a heating element, it contracts and within few seconds, the robot folds itself into its active form. After that, the tiny robot walks around and pushes loads. To perform the tasks, it takes help from an external magnetic field. According to the researchers, after performing a task, the robot self-destructs itself through degradation.
The robot performs all tasks without using power from an external battery, wire or tether. Evan Ackerman from IEEE Spectrum said that the new development is interesting and surprising. According to Ackerman, it was the first time when a robot has shown a complete life cycle.
Tesla driverless system to use updated radar technology
WASHINGTON: Electric carmaker Tesla announced Sunday it was upgrading its Autopilot software to use more advanced radar technology. In a...
