Flexible robot: how a piece of mucus can save people's health

A group of Chinese scientists, led by Professor Li Jang, has created a robot that looks more like a piece of slime. The invention has no form, which makes it unique. The prospects for innovations in medicine and other fields are already visible.

Everyone knows such a character as Venom. It is this creature that most resembles the created robot. In fact, it is a non-Newtonian fluid - a composition whose viscosity depends on the velocity gradient. If you hit the surface, it will be hard. And with slow touches, the finger falls into the liquid.



The development is set in motion through the use of a system of magnets. This allows you to move it in the right direction, changing the shape and size in order to penetrate into small cavities. Today, the robot does not look the most attractive way and looks more like a lump of mucus than a high-tech development. But the researchers emphasize that with the help of a dye, you can give the surface any color, so it makes no sense to pay attention to the appearance.

The basis of the composition is polyvinyl alcohol, used in the production of household chemicals. Particles of a neodymium magnet are added to it (in addition to neodymium, the composition includes iron and boron). According to the creators, if you have the right components, a child can handle the creation of a robot, it's no more difficult than diluting starch in water. The main thing is to keep proportions.



The flexible robot changes shape, moves in any plane and penetrates hard-to-reach places under the influence of a magnetic field. Today, the properties of the resulting composition are being studied in order to understand its nature and make a robot capable of solving a certain range of tasks.

According to scientists, work is underway to ensure the autonomy of the invention, if it can perform at least the simplest actions without the influence of external magnets, it will be considered a full-fledged robot.

It is impossible to test a novelty on the human body today. Neodymium magnet particles contained in the mucus are toxic to humans. It is planned to use a protective shell, but even in this case, the robot cannot be used for a long time. But for removing foreign objects from the body (for example, batteries, which children sometimes swallow), it is suitable.

After studying the properties of the invention, it will be sent for certification to the supervisory authorities. Only with approval is it possible to use a flexible robot in medicine.