Live tension is known to heal itself even after a number of injuries. However, it has been very difficult to give similar systems to robotic systems like robots.
Scientists have now created small swimming robots with the ability to heal themselves magnetically after engaging in two or three pieces. They note that, at one time, this approach could help make appliances more durable for industrial or environmental cleaning. The results of the study were reported in the Nano Letters magazine from ACS.
The researchers have created small robots with the ability to “swim” through fluids and perform useful tasks, such as cleaning the environment, performing surgeries, and delivering drugs. Most of the tests were performed in the laboratory, but eventually, these small devices would be released in hazardous environments, where they could be damaged.
Swimming robots are usually developed with soft hydrogels or brittle polymers, which can easily tear or crack. Joseph Wang and his team planned to develop swimming with the ability to self-heal when they move, without any help from other external people or motivators.
The researchers created a fish-shaped swim with a length of 2 cm (about the width of a human finger) and which contained a medium-hard, hydrophobic cover; basic cover cover; and a high strip of powerful, parallel microparticles.
Platinum added the tail to react with hydrogen peroxide fuel to form oxygen bubbles, which helped guide the robot. When a dip was placed by the researchers in a petri dish filled with a weak solution of hydrogen peroxide, it travels around the edge of the dish.
They then used a blade to cut the swimmer, and the tail continued to move around until it reached the rest of its body, thus reshaping the shape of the fish through a powerful magnetic interaction.
In addition, the robots could heal themselves when cut into three pieces, or even when the magnetic strip was positioned in different configurations. According to the researchers, the quick, flexible and simple self-healing method could be a crucial step towards repairing a fly for small and swimming robots.
Small swimming robots can heal themselves magnetically after breaking into two or three pieces. Video Credit: Chemical Society of America.
Magazine Information:
Karshalev, E., et al. (2021) Swimmers recover on the move after catastrophic damage. Nano Letters. doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c05061.
Source: https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en.html