Watch: Tiny robot liquefies and escapes from a cage

A team of researchers created a robot that can shape-shift between liquid and solid. It can conduct electricity and also has magnetic abilities.

Hyderabad: A team of researchers created a robot that can shape-shift between liquid and solid. It can conduct electricity and also has magnetic abilities.

Published in a scientific journal called ‘Matter’, the team created Magnetoactive phase transitional matter (MPTM), which is made of NdFeB-embedded liquid metal.

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“MPTMs exhibit a combination of high mechanical strength, high load capacity, fast locomotion, excellent controllability, and robust morphological adaptability,” read the introduction of the paper.

“This unique combination of properties is enabled by the reversible transition of MPTMs between rigid and fluidic states through alternating magnetic field heating and ambient cooling,” it said.

Demonstrating its capabilities, the team uploaded a video where a tiny human-shaped robot is behind bars. The robot liquefies itself and escapes the prison, thus showing its shape-shifting capabilities.

MPTMs can reversibly switch between solid and liquid phases by heating with an alternating magnetic field or through ambient cooling.

The MPTM can be used in several ways. It can solder electronic components, can be used as universal screws, and can also remove foreign objects or deliver drugs in a model stomach.

“MPTMs are promising for future applications in flexible electronics, healthcare, and robotics that depend on dynamic shape reconfigurability and repair,” said the team.