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Untethered Miniature Origami Robot That Self-Folds, Walks, Swims, and Degrades
jan_jes writes: MIT researchers demonstrated an untethered miniature origami robot that self-folds, walks, swims, and degrades at ICRA 2015 in Seattle. A miniature robotic device that can fold-up on the spot, accomplish tasks, and disappear by degradation into the environment promises a range of medical applications but has so far been a challenge in engineering. This work presents a sheet that can self-fold into a functional 3D robot,actuate immediately for untethered walking and swimming, and subsequently dissolve in liquid. Further, the robot is capable of conducting basic tasks and behaviors, including swimming, delivering/carrying blocks, climbing a slope, and digging. The developed models include an acetone-degradable version, which allows the entire robot's body to vanish in a liquid. Thus this experimentally demonstrate the complete life cycle of this robot: self-folding,actuation, and degrading.
The mechanics are lovely, but it's funny to define "complete life cycle" their way, as though death/destruction were an interesting or difficult achievement of life (or machine operation).
This isn't a robot as there is no internal power source, controls, or actuators. It is a very clever mechanism that responds to outside temperature and magnetic fields.
I love Jesus, except for his foreign policy.
Only 2 posts in and Already slashdotted.
Site in the first link is down... slashdotted?
Gaff's origami unicorn means Deckard's a skinjob or maybe not.
so how long does it last if you don't put it in or near water?
OK, there doesn't seem to be any other source but the host was killed in seconds. Time for a /. article cache? (similar to Fark's image hosting/re-caching)
Somebody re-host this thing.
All that is left is for the little critter to learn to reproduce itself. That might be easier than one might think if it only involves assembling components but if is defined as also creating all the components it is much more difficult. Human fetuses do not create their won components by comparison. After that we need to build in a "Darwin Effect". In other words the little robot should find better and better designs for itself which computers and net connections could provide. At some point we must define it as a life form and perhaps reach a point where whether it is sentient or not can be debated. The issues will be similar to what Mr.Data faces in the Star Trek series. My best guess is that less than 20 years will be needed to advance to this point if the social disruption caused by raid changes in technology does not kill us all.
Yeah, the 'robot' moves because it's got a neodymium magnet inside but somehow we're supposed to believe that it
>disappear by degradation into the environment
Pull the other one, it's got bells on it.
From the summary
The developed models include an acetone-degradable version, which allows the entire robot's body to vanish in a liquid.
From the paper;
acetone-degradable model whose entire body (except magnet) dissolves in acetone.
Re-use is better than recycling. Recycling is better than disposal or destruction.
found a video: http://www.youmaker.com/video/...
Thus this experimentally demonstrate the complete life cycle of this robot: self-folding,actuation, and degrading.
For people, the equivalent life cycle is self-realization, self-actualization and self-degradation.
Roy: I want more life.
Tyrell: You were made as well as we could make you.
Roy: But not to last.
Tyrell: The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long, and you have folded so very very crisply, Roy.
Seriously, this thing moves because it's got a nice big neodymium magnet inside it and some one else is twiddling the external EM field to make it dance.
= Lemmings
-- open source? sounds like the real book --