Engineers have the goal of creating a soft robot that could be used in delicate tasks, a lot of which involved direct interaction with humans. These robots are made of a material that is strong enough to function, but still soft enough to be safe and to complete its tasks carefully. Some engineers found that using self fixing technology would be extremely beneficial for soft robots because they are more likely to break than other robots, considering they are made of a more delicate material. By using self fixing material, they could be more independent and if they were in the middle of a task, they wouldn’t need human intervention to fix them and continue. Here is a link to my talk on Self Healing Robots: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLMRvjoH_lc . In the video, I describe the importance of the technology, how Self Healing material works, and possible uses. I've further elaborated on the content below. In general, the material is made of an elastic polymer, also known as an elastomer, embedded with tiny liquid metal droplets. When it is heated, the material expands, due to the droplets rupturing and forming electrically conductive pathways. This closes the areas that need sealing. As it cools, the polymers form a covalent bond and close the gap. Currently, the most significant problem with the idea is the fact that it takes a long time to heat the entire material. However, self healing technology could eventually lead to breakthroughs in many different fields. Currently, different forms of the material itself, such as self healing rubber, is being used to make a variety of innovations, including tires that are immune to permanent punctures. Engineers at the University of Cambridge are also working on a self healing innovation: soft robotic hands made from jelly like plastic, which may be the solution to human needs. They are able to sense damage and patch themselves up without human intervention. While they are able to create new bonds within 40 minutes, the next step is to embed sensor fibers in the polymer to detect where damage is located. In the future, the material can be used to make more capable robots with different functions. For example, prosthetic hands would greatly benefit from the ability to fix itself. It would require similar functionalities as a human hand and if it gets cut when holding something sharp, it can heal itself and return to its normal state. This technology would also be a great addition to climbing robots (a type of robot being worked on at Harvard) that can save people from fires. It can quickly restore the polymer bonds that were damaged and would be able to continue the rescue mission. What is even more interesting is that the material can be used for “Edible robots,” which are biodegradable robots that can safely deliver medicine to different parts of the body. When the robot enters the body, humans can no longer help it, so it needs to be independent and able to complete the task on its own. The self fixing technology would make it possible for it to overcome its malfunctions and continue on. I am excited to see where this technology is used next.
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AuthorKatie Zelvin Archives
September 2020
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