Developments into magnetic shape shifting robots
Scientists in America are developing a new method of 3D printing that could help to treat medical problems – by creating magnetic microrobots.
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology put tiny particles of iron in the plastic 3D “ink” and used an electromagnetic printing nozzle to create their miniature shape-shifting soft robots. Flexible and strong, the robots are controlled by magnets and can change shape in less than a second.
The objects created so far include a plastic sheet that folds and unfolds itself, a tube that squeezes itself shut, and a spider that can roll, crawl, jump, snap together to catch a ball, and even wrap itself around a small pill and carry it across a table.
“We think in biomedicine this technique will find promising applications,” explained Xuanhe Zhao, a professor of engineering at MIT and a member of the project team. “You can imagine this technology being used in minimally invasive surgeries. For example, we could put a structure around a blood vessel to control the pumping of blood, or use a magnet to guide a device through the GI tract to take images, extract tissue samples, clear a blockage, or deliver drugs to a specific location.”
Magnetic 3D-printed soft robots do already exist, but until now scientists have only been able to create simple devices that can stretch, shrink, or bend.
Other 3D-printed shape-shifters can change shape in response to temperature or pH changes, electricity, light, heat, air or water. But they’re not necessarily easy to use – some take hours to change shape, others need high voltages or can’t be controlled remotely. The benefits of magnetic technology are its speed, its ability to be remotely controlled, and the fact that it’s safe for the patient.
MIT is releasing free software and a recipe for its magnetic ink so that other scientists around the world can use the technology. The team have also developed a model that predicts how a printed object will change shape under a magnetic field.
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