A magnetic slime robot is a self-

healing With physical trauma or disease suffered by an organism, healing involves the repairing of damaged tissue(s), organs and the biological system as a whole and resumption of (normal) functioning. Medicine includes the process by which the cells i ...

soft robot Soft robotics is a subfield of robotics that concerns the design, control, and fabrication of robots composed of compliant materials, instead of rigid links. In contrast to rigid-bodied robots built from metals, ceramics and hard plastics, the ...

made up of

polyvinyl alcohol Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVOH, PVA, or PVAl) is a water-soluble synthetic polymer. It has the idealized formula H2CH(OH)sub>''n''. It is used in papermaking, textile warp sizing, as a thickener and emulsion stabilizer in polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) a ...

borax Borax is a salt (ionic compound), a hydrated borate of sodium, with chemical formula often written . It is a colorless crystalline solid, that dissolves in water to make a basic solution. It is commonly available in powder or granular form, ...

and

neodymium Neodymium is a chemical element with the symbol Nd and atomic number 60. It is the fourth member of the lanthanide series and is considered to be one of the rare-earth metals. It is a hard, slightly malleable, silvery metal that quickly tarnishes i ...

magnet particles. It was co-created by professor Li Zhang of

Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public research university in Ma Liu Shui, Hong Kong, formally established in 1963 by a charter granted by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. It is the territory's second-oldest university an ...

. It is a

non-Newtonian A non-Newtonian fluid is a fluid that does not follow Newton's law of viscosity, i.e., constant viscosity independent of stress. In non-Newtonian fluids, viscosity can change when under force to either more liquid or more solid. Ketchup, for exa ...

fluid In physics, a fluid is a liquid, gas, or other material that continuously deforms (''flows'') under an applied shear stress, or external force. They have zero shear modulus, or, in simpler terms, are substances which cannot resist any shear ...

that behaves like a liquid or solid depending on

force In physics, a force is an influence that can change the motion of an object. A force can cause an object with mass to change its velocity (e.g. moving from a state of rest), i.e., to accelerate. Force can also be described intuitively as a p ...

, having "visco-elastic properties". The robot is developed by and could be deployed inside the

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

body to perform tasks such as retrieving objects out of it. Contrary to its name, it currently does not have a robot in it, and is only controlled by magnets. It can reach speeds of 30 millimeters per second.

Properties

Magnetic slime robot is in the form of a blob of slime. It is said to be able to make C and O shapes with its body, and these robots could navigate passages as small as 1.5 millimeters. Its self-healing properties make it able to connect with other separate parts of itself to make a whole. It is made of neodymium magnet particles, which make the slime magnetic, and allow the slime to stretch when being attracted to metal.

Hypothetical uses

It is believed that this kind of magnetic robot could extract unhealthy objects ingested by humans, and possibly traverse out of the body with the ingested object with it, and scientists state that the slime is capable of “transporting harmful things”. The robot could be used to be deployed into the human body to retrieve objects that were possibly accidentally ingested. Zhang states that the slime can prevent toxic electrolytes from leaking out by performing encapsulation, and create a kind of coating around the object that is leaking. It can go inside of a child's body. Despite the possible health benefits this "robot" can provide, it is currently toxic to ingest for humans, and will leak out toxic neodymium particles into the body. Researchers coated the slime robot in

silicon dioxide Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula , most commonly found in nature as quartz and in various living organisms. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is one ...

to make a protective layer in the belief that it will prevent the slime from having neodymium leak into human insides. Zhang states that the safety of the slime being in the human body is dependent on the time it stays inside.

Electrical

The magnetic slime robot is shown and told to be able to conduct electricity, and to pull wires together. Scientists state that the robotic slime is capable of “circuit switching and repair,”.

References

{{reflist Robotics