Gelatin Robohobot
Austrian scientists have shown an edible robot
Alina Khmeleva, "Computerra"
Scientists and inventors from the Johannes Kepler University (Austria) have developed a robotic elephant trunk. It can bend and pick up various objects. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that it consists of a food-grade, biodegradable gel, according to the New Scientist portal. This production technology can have a huge impact in a variety of areas – from veterinary care to children's toys.
The artificial trunk is mainly made of gelatin. In addition, it contains citric acid, which prevents it from being consumed by bacteria, and glycerin, which makes the whole structure soft and elastic. The material itself retained elasticity for more than a year, and, according to the study, the elephant's trunk could bend and straighten more than 330,000 times before it began to crack.
According to the original text of the study, the bacteria found in the wastewater will absorb the gel, which means that the robots will quickly collapse as soon as they are in the trash.
What is an edible robot for?
At the moment, the robot still needs inedible electronics and sensors to function fully. It will not be possible to completely eat it. But researcher Martin Kaltenbrunner said he can see how, as technology develops, this will lead to the creation of a new generation of children's toys. They will be safer for young children.
He also suggested that edible robots could help veterinarians to make it easier for them to get animals to take medications. For example, you can trick a tiger and make a moving prey with medicinal stuffing out of an edible machine.
Economy and environmental friendliness
Kaltenbrunner and his colleagues have created a gel from ingredients that are safe to consume, including gelatin – it can be completely digested by the body. In addition, the composition includes citric acid to stop the growth of bacteria and glycerin for softness and to prevent rapid destruction of the material.
"Gelatin is versatile, easy to produce and low cost compared to other biodegradable elastomers," says Dario Floreano of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland. "This work is important because it paves the way for next-generation wearable sensors and computing devices."
A drawing from an article in Nature Materials – VM.
Biodegradable and biocompatible elastic materials can be used for soft robotics, tissue engineering or elastic electronics. According to the study, such machines have good mechanical properties, they can be rebuilt and modified. In some cases, they have healing properties.
They are not durable in environmental conditions. The biogel will be destroyed naturally if, for example, it ends up in a landfill, but otherwise the robot remains stable. During laboratory tests, the researchers found that the gel does not dry out and does not lose its properties for more than a year. Scientists also found out that the bio-machine can withstand more than 330 thousand cycles of non-stop movements without drying and cracking.
"We combine all the useful attributes in one material that is easy to reproduce and mass-produce. It has a low cost and is completely destroyed in environmental conditions. This biogel is a step towards robust, soft robotic and electronic systems that are stable and closely mimic their natural prototypes," the scientists concluded in their study.
Article by Baumgartner et al. Resilient yet entirely degradable gelatin-based biogels for soft robots and electronics is published in the journal Nature Materials.
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