It could lead to electronics-free robots

Apr 28, 2009 12:41 GMT  ·  By
The new gel invented in Japan moves in very much the same way a caterpillar does
   The new gel invented in Japan moves in very much the same way a caterpillar does

Researchers at a Japanese robotics lab have recently showcased an innovation that has taken the science community's breath away. They have managed to create a chemical gel that is able to move on a surface in very much the same way a caterpillar does on a leaf. In the future, the gel could aid in the creation of robots that require no bulky and rigid electronic components, and which could have their articulations moved by this new type of material. What's more amazing about the Japanese innovation is that it moves without electrical stimulation, but all on its own, depending on the composition of its surrounding environment.

The gel was created in Tokyo, at the Waseda University Shuji Hashimoto Applied Physics Laboratory, and the research team in charge of the project was led by expert Shingo Maeda. The scientists succeeded in creating the color-changing, motile gel out of specific types of polymers, which were influenced and changed their physical properties depending on the chemicals that were found in their immediate vicinity. The Belousov–Zhabotinsky (BZ) oscillating chemical reaction is the root source of inspiration for the new gel, which has evidenced the possibility to create such a fully autonomous device for the first time.

Maeda told NewScientist that the basic principles he and his team used for the creation of the moving gel were not something that had never been heard of, but that no science team in the world endeavored to construct a self-propelling structure at this scale. Basically, the drive force behind the caterpillar-like structure is made up of ruthenium bipyridine ions, which cyclically get the atoms inside the polymers making up the gel to lose and gain electrons. This causes what are perceived as contrasts, which propel the entire structure forward.

For the recent demonstration video, the experts used a notched surface, which was able to provide the moving structure with a high degree of friction. But the Japanese team announced that it had already started working on a version of the gel that would simply lie on a flat surface and be able to move on its own, without anything to hold on to. The future structure is expected to be able to move like a snail or a worm, through the use of peristaltic motion.

The Japanese scientists also drew attention to the fact that their invention, while still far from any practical application, could potentially be used for engineers in tasks that required a lot of sophisticated electronics to operate at the moment. “Mechanical systems need complex fabricated circuits or external control devices because the mechanical motion is driven by on-off switching of external signals,” Maeda said, but chemical systems have the ability to organize themselves from the inside and to create their own control paths.