One more step towards flexible robotics

All, of course, remember the difference between the two modifications of the terminators - T-800 and T-1000. If the first one corresponds to the well-established notions about robots, then the second one is a certain controlled flexible mass, resistant to “ballistic shock” © , which looks and works in a completely different way.

Approximately such associations arise (if you don’t recall Lizun from Ghostbusters), reading the press release of scientists from Skaynet University of Northern California about their development of the technology of turning a hydrogel into a hard mass controlled by electric fields that can change their physical properties, such as density.

Technically, we are talking about the following: a negatively charged hydrogel (absorbed polymer consisting of 99.9% of water) is exposed to positively charged copper ions that bind the polymer lattice into a “hard frame”, thus giving a certain amount of gel some mechanical strength.
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By itself, this approach is far from new - there are already methods that allow changing the density of a hydrogel under the influence of electric fields. The difference in this case is determined by the possibility of a controlled reaction in such a way that the hydrogel is able to “move” by changing the center of gravity of the gel mass under the influence of different amounts of copper ions. Thus, the effect of “controlled movement” is observed.

Dr. Orlin Velev (Orlin Velev), a professor of chemistry and biomolecular engineering, directly says that his team plans to use its development for mobile biological compatible microdevices, such as synthetic fibers of artificial muscles and other similar flexible and resizing parts of the human body.

Rate what is at stake in the video below:



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