<h2>Muscle Movents</h2>
<p>Here&#8217;s an uncomfortable thought, lots of your body&#8217;s tissues are moving around inside you right now.</p>
<p>Tiny muscle movements are imperative to the proper regular function of the human body. The proper opening and closing of our various vasculature helps keep the right juices flowing in the right directions. Improper movements can lead to the development of various illnesses. For that reason, a team of researchers at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale De Lausanne (EPFL) have built a set of <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-02/epfd-grt020719.php">microscopic tools and soft robot devices</a> which could be implanted in the body to help regulate various organ movements. Their research, published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2019/LC/C8LC01200H#!divAbstract"><em>Lab on a Chip</em></a>, could one day lead to implants which help stimulate muscle movements or deliver medicine from within our bodies.</p>
<h2>Weird Flex, But OK</h2>
<p>Inspired by the body&#8217;s locomotor system, the EPFL team assembled the tiny bots from microscopic hydrogel components, like high-tech building blocks. The blocks form a sort of &#8220;skeleton&#8221; while the addition of tendon-like polymers allow the structure to flex and bend. With a flash of near-infrared light, scientists can trigger a rapid contraction and relaxation cycle which lasts just a few milliseconds. The result is a system of cell-sized artificial bones and muscles which can carry out complicated microscopic manipulation tasks within the body.</p>
<div style="width: 640px;" class="wp-video">
<video class="wp-video-shortcode" id="video-150845-1" width="640" height="360" preload="metadata" controls="controls"><source type="video/mp4" src="https://media.eurekalert.org/multimedia_prod/pub/media/192268_web.mp4?_=1" /><a href="https://media.eurekalert.org/multimedia_prod/pub/media/192268_web.mp4">https://media.eurekalert.org/multimedia_prod/pub/media/192268_web.mp4</a></video></div>
<h2>Tiny Tools</h2>
<p>Not only is their research useful, it has practical applications as well. Such microscopic devices could be used in research functions which require repeated stimulation of microscopic biological samples. They could also server a variety of functions as medicinal implants such as the on-demand delivery of medicine or the remote manual stimulation of various organ systems. One day we may all make use of such tiny implanted robots to help keep our systems running smoothly.</p>
<p><strong>READ MORE: </strong><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-02/epfd-grt020719.php">Gummy-like robots that could help prevent disease</a> [EurekAlert]</p>
<p><em><strong>More on the future of medicine:</strong> </em><a href="https://futurism.com/mit-insulin-pill-stomach-diabetes">MIT Invents Smart Pill That Injects Insulin Into Your Stomach</a></p>

These gummy-like robots could keep us healthy from within

Micro Muscles

Researchers at EPFL have built a set of microscopic tools and soft-robots which could be implanted in the body to help regulate various movements.

These Gummy-Like Robots Could Keep Us Healthy From Within

Microscopic soft robots could have a variety of health applications.

<p>If there’s one thing that scientists <em>absolutely should</em> be working on, it’s a self-regenerating robo-Deadpool or the eerily-fluid T-1000 Terminator. Thankfully, a team of scientists just took an important first step towards building a robot that can keep on truckin’ even with a couple of bullet holes improve its ventilation.</p>
<p>Okay, so maybe they weren’t working on killer robots and (probably) didn’t subject their research to gunfire, but what they did do is create a soft, flexible electronic material that can <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41563-018-0084-7">automatically repair its circuits</a> when it gets damaged.</p>
<figure id="attachment_131539" style="width: 334px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img class="wp-image-131539 " src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2018/05/clock.jpg" alt="" width="334" height="391" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Credit: Nature Materials</figcaption></figure>
<p>The new “skin” is made of droplets of liquid metal housed within a rubber-like material that can bend, fold, and stretch. Calling it “self-repairing” is a bit of a misnomer, as the stretchy material won’t stitch itself together. But when it’s ripped, torn, or cut, the droplets burst open and create new circuits, immediately replacing those that were broken. The current is never broken, so electricity continues to flow even as the material is being damaged.</p>
<p>The team demonstrated this immediate rerouting by continuously powering a clock while cutting away at pieces of the flexible circuitry.</p>
<p>The team of scientists who developed the material imagines that it will help develop better robots that are based on people or other animals, and also improve interactions between people and machines. It could also lead to better wearable technology that won’t break from everyday wear and tear.</p>
<p>“If we want to build machines that are more compatible with the human body and the natural environment, we have to start with new types of materials, Carmel Majidi, an engineer at Carnegie Mellon University who worked on the research, said in <a href="https://engineering.cmu.edu/news-events/news/2018/05/21-self-healing-material.html">a press release</a>.</p>
<p>Many engineers believe that soft electronics will help revolutionize the way robots function, and also how they’re perceived in society. Flexible and durable machinery could help bring robots from the <a href="https://futurism.com/boston-dynamics-spotmini-new-trick/">awkward, jerky movements</a> typical of hard, inflexible bots to something more like the humanoid, smooth NS-5 androids from iRobot – at least in terms of <a href="https://futurism.com/soft-robots-sense-world/">appearance and motor control</a>.</p>


Thankfully we're not quite at the point of bulletproof Terminators yet.

New soft robotic skin automatically heals itself, even if you shoot it full of holes

Robots & Machines

The liquid metal circuits automatically reroute current around any cuts or holes in the material – paving the way for more humanoid robots.

New Soft Robotic Skin Automatically Heals Itself, Even If You Shoot It Full Of Holes

Droplets of metallic liquid can form new circuits on the fly.

Historically, robots have been fairly durable but clumsy.

Flexible, foldable robot muscles are more powerful than ever before

Origami-inspired robot muscles allow us to produce new soft robots, which are stronger and appear more organic than previous versions.

Flexible, Foldable Robot Muscles are More Powerful Than Ever Before

These 3D-printed soft robots can bounce without breaking.

Artificial Intelligence

These “Soft” Robots Are The Toughest Around

<h5>Soft Robots</h5>
<p>Scientists from Cornell University and the Italian Technology Institute in Pontedera have developed an elastic robotic skin that is able to stretch up to five times its size, change colors, and even detect pressure.</p>
<p>The luminescent skin, partly funded by the Army and Air Force’s research wings, is comprised of different kinds of specialized silicone, making it flexible and soft.</p>
<p>In the future, it could be used in a host of wearable consumer technologies (yes, your future smartwatch might have elastic, conductive octopus skin). It could also be used to help robots have new forms of camouflage, as the skin allows soft robots to make themselves more or less visible in their environment, adapting as necessary. The robots could also colorize themselves to appear more friendly or aggressive.</p>
<p>Robert Shepherd, a roboticist from Cornell University, adds that these soft <a href="https://futurism.com/?s=robots" target="_blank">robots</a> could also help improve humans&#8217; interactions with robots “because they&#8217;re much safer and feel nice&#8221; (after all, who wants to cuddle up next to a piece of sharp metal?).</p>
<p>The researchers have published their study in the journal <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/351/6277/1071" target="_blank"><em>Science</em></a>.</p>
<h5>Silicone Layers</h5>
<p>The skin’s composition is broken down into three main layers, all of which are made of silicone that has been slightly tweaked. This layered structure allows the skin to be completely flexible, and also what allows it to stretch up to five times its size.</p>
<p>Mechanical engineer Bryan Peele explains: &#8220;Starting with the middle layer, basically we took some simple phosphorescent powders (which have been in car dashboards since the &#8217;50s) and mixed them into silicone, so that under a high electric field the material would glow.&#8221;</p>
<p>This layer is what allows the skin to glow and change colors by introducing different elements, like copper to make it blue or magnesium to make it yellow.</p>
<p>He continues by outlining how the tech gets its energy: “To power it we need to sandwich it between another material that&#8217;s [electrically] conductive, able to stretch, and is also transparent enough to let the glowing layer&#8217;s light through.&#8221;</p>
<p>For this, the team turned to a technology developed by Harvard researchers in just the past few years: A silicone hydrogel material.</p>
<p>Of course, the two materials are running at a really high voltage, as such, the team notes that you need an insulating outside layer of silicone. This allows you to pull and stretch the material with your hands without the risk of injury and harm. Here, they used stretchy but tough silicone.</p>
<p>Together, these three layers make up the glowing robotic octopus skin.</p>
<p>There are still some kinks that need to be worked out. Another researcher, Chris Larson, notes that in hot, dry environments this material can dry out. But the entire team remains incredibly excited about the technology and its potential. And I, for one, welcome our new robotic octopus skin.</p>


Hard Science

Take a moment to watch a stretchy robot test its octopus-inspired skin.

/Soft Robots

Micro Muscles

These Gummy-Like Robots Could Keep Us Healthy From Within

Robots & Machines

New Soft Robotic Skin Automatically Heals Itself, Even If You Shoot It Full Of Holes

Robots & Machines

Flexible, Foldable Robot Muscles are More Powerful Than Ever Before

Artificial Intelligence

These “Soft” Robots Are The Toughest Around

Hard Science

A New Era in Stretchable Electronics

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