Physicists have found a better approach to cover soft robots with materials that permit them to move and carry on their activities in a more purposeful manner. The research was led by a group from the University of Bath in United Kingdom.
The authors of the research feel that their advanced design displaying the ‘dynamic matter’ could indicate a defining moment in the designing of the future robots. By further developing the idea, it could be feasible to establish and control the shape, manouvers and behaviour of a soft solid, not just by its regular flexibility and resilience but also because of the human-induced actions on its surface.
The outer layer of a conventional soft material generally contracts into a sphere. Consider the manner in which water turns into droplets: this phenomenon of beading happens because of the fact that the surface of any liquid and other such soft material naturally shrinks to the smallest surface region possible, which happen to a sphere.
However, there is a possibility to develop the active matter in such a way that this tendency to turn into sphere can be overcome. An illustration of this in real life would be a rubber ball enveloped by a layer of nano-robots, where the cluster of robots are programmed to work simultaneously in cohesion to change the shape of the ball to a new pre-determined shape.
It is anticipated that the active matter will pave the way for a new generation of machines, machines whose function will come from the bottom up. So, rather than being in the control of a central controller, like the current robotic arms are governed in the factories, the next generation machines would be produced using numerous singular active units that will coordinate and cooperate to decide and control the movement and function capabilities of the machine.
This process will be similar to the activities of the tissues in the human body, for example, the fibers in the heart muscle that coordinates the proper functioning of the heart.
Putting this idea to use, scientists could configuration soft machines with arms made out of adaptable materials which will be controlled by robots inserted in their surface. They could also help by adapting the size and shape of the capsules used for drug delivery, by covering the outer layer of nanoparticles in a responsive, active material. This is turn could bring about noticeable effects on how a medication interacts with the cells in the body.
Work on active matter provokes the speculation that the energetic cost of the surface of a fluid or soft solid should generally be positive on the grounds that a specific measure of energy is always required to make a surface.
Jack Binysh, the first author of the study, said that the dynamic matter makes us take a look at the known rules of the nature, rules such as the fact that the surface tension has to be positive, in a new light altogether. To witness as to what will happen if the rules are broken and how the results could be tapped, is a thrilling place to undertake the research.
Co-author Dr Anton Souslov further added that the study is a significant proof of concept and has numerous valuable ramifications. For example, future innovation could design soft robots that may be far squishier and much better at picking up and handling fragile materials.
For the sole purpose of the study, the researchers created hypothesis and simulations that portrayed a 3D soft solid whose surface encounters active pressures. They observed that these active pressures and stresses expand the surface of the material, pulling the solid under alongside it, and causing a global shape change.
The scientists observed that the exact shape taken by the solid could then be customized by adjusting the elastic properties of the material. In the next phase of this work, the scientists will apply this general guideline to plan explicit robots, such as soft arms or self-swimming materials. Likewise, they will also take a look at the shared behavior, for example, what will happen if you have multiple active solids and are all stuffed together.
Journal Reference: Jack Binysh, Thomas R. Wilks, Anton Souslov. Active elastocapillarity in soft solids with negative surface tension. Science Advances, 2022; 8 (10) DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abk3079
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