Researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong developed a metal robot that can change from solid to liquid to move more easily across different terrainsas in “Terminator”.
Chengfeng Pan, an engineer, revealed the creation of the machine in an article published in the popular science magazine Matter and quoted in the report of the Chain BE.
Pan described the robot, baptized as MPTM, as revolutionary: “Giving robots the ability to switch between liquid and solid states gives them more functionality”.
The little robot remembers to the T-1000 from Terminator 2: Judgment Dayable to change state to adapt to any situation.
How the MPTM works
The little robot, inspired by the sea cucumber and octopuses, can solve numerous problems in fields such as engineering or medicine. The researchers explain that MPTM can be really useful when assembling electronic products, since it can move through places that are too small for the tools we use.
MPTM is made from gallium, a non-toxic metal, similar to others such as aluminium, indium and thallium, which is melted at 29.76 degrees at standard pressure to go from a solid to a liquid state that has resulted be very useful for the research team.
Particles of an alloy of neodymium, iron and boron were then added to the matrix, thus amplifying the robot’s response to magnetic fields and creating a magnetoactive solid-liquid phase transition machine.
By subjecting the magnetic field to a certain intensity, it induces an electric current inside the gallium that generates heat and helps the robot go from a solid to a liquid state. With this, they got a robot that can, among many other things, administer medicines and remove foreign objects.
