This pangolin-inspired robot can curl into a ball to roll around in your body!

2023-06-28 17:40:00

German researchers have developed the robot pangolin, which combines classic robotics with soft robotics. Thanks to small metallic scales, it can move in the body, deposit drugs, or even produce heat to stop bleeding.

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Soft robotics is a field of robotics where machines are created entirely with soft materials. However, these soft robots are often very limited because many features require stiffer materials. In an article published in the journal Nature Communicationsresearchers from the Max-Planck Institute for Intelligent Systemsin Germany, have just developed a small medical robot that combines the advantages of soft robotics with metal elements.

The researchers were inspired by the pangolin, which has a body covered in scales and can easily curl up into a ball. Their robot is made of a flexible polymer layer containing magnetic particles, on which they have integrated small metal scales.

Examples of using the pangolin-inspired robot, which can deliver medicine into the body and stop bleeding. © Max-Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems

A robot capable of transporting drugs and emitting heat

The robot pangolin measures regarding two centimeters in length, and can be operated with a low frequency magnetic field. It is flexible and can be rolled into a cylinder shape to move more easily through the body, especially the digestive system. He is able to carry cargo, such as medicine, which he can drop off once he arrives at his destination.

Under the effect of a high-frequency magnetic field, the scales heat up to more than 70 degrees Celsius. The robot can then be used to treat thrombosis, stop bleeding or remove tumor tissue. According to the researchers, the pangolin robot is very promising because ” wireless robots that can move freely, are made of hard elements like metal, and can also radiate heat are rare “. They hope that one day their robot pangolin will be able to reach the tightest and most sensitive areas of the body.

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