MIT/ YouTube
MIT hydrogel robot
The devices can perform a number of fast, forceful tasks, including the ability to grab and release live fish as they swim.
Engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have used 3D printing to create gel-based robots that may one day be of assistance in surgical operations.
The robots are made entirely of hydrogel – a tough, rubbery, nearly transparent material that’s composed mostly of water. Made up of hollow, precisely designed hydrogel structures connected to rubbery tubes, the devices can perform a number of fast, forceful tasks, including the ability to grab and release live fish as they swim. When the researchers pump water into the hydrogel robots, the structures swiftly inflate, and adopt the capability to curl up or stretch out – It is here where the robots can ‘grip’ other objects.
3D printing and laser techniques were used to produce the robots’ hydrogel recipes into robotic structures and other hollow units. They were then bonded to small, rubbery tubes that are connected to external pumps. The resulting robots can be used for a range of different functions, including the surgical operations, according to MIT. Since hydrogels are mostly composed of water, they are seemingly a naturally safe option for use in a biomedical setting.
“Hydrogels are soft, wet, biocompatible, and can form more friendly interfaces with human organs,” Xuanhe Zhao, associate professor of mechanical engineering and civil environmental engineering at MIT. “We are actively collaborating with medical groups to translate this system into soft manipulators such as hydrogel ‘hands’ which could potentially apply more gentle manipulations to tissues and organs in surgical operations.”
MIT/ YouTube
MIT Hydrogel Robot
When testing the devices underwater, the research team noticed the robots were hard to make out against coloured backgrounds.
The research team produced several robots, including a finlike structure, able to move back and forth; a robot that makes kicking motions; and hand-shaped robot that can squeeze and relax.
When testing the devices underwater, the research team noticed the robots were hard to make out against coloured backgrounds. Measuring the acoustic and optical properties of the hydrogel robots, and found them to be nearly equal to that of water, unlike rubber and other commonly used materials in soft robotics.
“(The robot) is almost transparent, very hard to see,” Zhao added. “When you release the fish, it’s quite happy because (the robot) is soft and doesn’t damage the fish. Imagine a hard robotic hand (it) would probably squash the fish.”
The researchers are now hoping to leverage its creation to a number of industries, tailoring their recipes for particular uses of particular applications.
“We want to pinpoint a realistic application and optimise the material to achieve something impactful,” said Hyunwoo Yuk, a MIT graduate involved in the project. “To our best knowledge, this is the first demonstration of hydrogel pressure-based actuation. We are now tossing this concept out as an open question, to say, ‘let’s play with this’.”
