Shapeshifting @ its finest! This robot can seamlessly transform from solid to liquid and back again

A team of researchers from Soochow University in Taiwan has developed a soft robot made from droplets of magnetic fluid that can break itself up and reconstitute itself later when it encounters obstacles or narrow passages. The robot, which is about one centimetre in size, can be made smaller, thinner, or directed to break up with special magnets, which could be useful for delivering drugs into the body.

The researchers used droplets of a ferrofluid, magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles suspended in oil, to create the robot, and controllable magnets to direct the robot to move or change shape, as needed, by acting on the nanoparticles. To move the robot through a narrow channel, the researchers used magnets to squeeze the robot into a thin, elongated shape.

They also used magnetic fields to make a centimetre or millimetre-sized robot split into a group of smaller, millimetre or micrometre-sized robots. This capability could be a "game changer", as a patient could swallow a drug-carrying robot that could then split inside them, perhaps in their gastrointestinal tract, so that each tiny robotic droplet could deliver medicine to a specific place.

"Shape-shifting at its finest! This incredible robot can seamlessly transform from solid to liquid and back again, pushing the boundaries of what we once thought was possible. #robotics #technology #innovation #engineering #futuretech #transformers #shape-shifting #science #research #smartmaterials #liquidmetal #metamaterials #nanotechnology #AI #machinelearning #automation #mechatronics #electromechanical #STEM #education. Check out our blog for more tech news and updates at www.sdotvenom.com/blog."