Japanese researchers (already known for their robot-leaning sympathies) have come out with a new type of “chemical robot.” Mimicking the behavior of an inchworm (because we all love inchworms so much) the robot uses a pulsing chemical reaction to move.
Creepy, am I right? Jeez. What won’t the Japanese come out with? Like it’s not bad enough that they’re trying to replace our babies, now I have to worry about robo-worms getting all up in my business. No thank you!
From the article:
It looks like a slice of mango. It “walks” like an inchworm. But it’s not alive.
Japanese researchers used a pulsing chemical reaction to power a gelatinous robot, New Scientist magazine reports.
The scientists at the Shuji Hashimoto Laboratory at Waseda University in Tokyo are specialists in chemical robotics, which aims to build self-directed machines without metallic parts or electronics.
In this case, the chemicals were built into a flexible gel, curved to maximize tension and magnify the pulsing reaction.
When placed on a notched surface, the curved yellow object stretches, then shrinks to move forward, exactly like an inchworm.
The “walking” continues until the chemical reactions cease.
