Chinese engineers have developed a robot worthy of the Terminator, capable of moving from solid to liquid and vice versa.
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In addition to superiority over fiction, this innovation could also benefit medicine, according to the 7sur7 newspaper.
Engineers from two Chinese universities unveiled the robot on Jan. 25 and explained that they were inspired by the functioning of the sea cucumber, which can change the consistency of its body, making it soft or hard, depending on its needs.
The robot was built from metal with a melting point of 29.8 degrees Celsius, to which the researchers added magnetic particles that allow the robot to move or solidify.
Problem: The robot does not return to its original shape and needs to be reshaped and then cooled down.
“Giving robots the ability to go from liquid to solid gives them more functionality,” said Chengfeng Pan, one of the study’s authors.
The engineers also tested the robot in an artificial stomach to administer drugs or remove foreign bodies. These features are possible due to the “phase transition of the magnetoactive substance” of the object.
However, the robot is only at the prototype stage, and before saving lives, it will have to be improved.