Self-healing robot

2022: Robot Announcement

In early December 2022, scientists from Northwestern University in Illinois developed a robot that can restore itself. A robot that can determine when it has been harmed and then fix itself before continuing to move. This is reportedly the first such development in the world.

The robot, about 12cm long and shaped, resembles the letter X. It moves with compressed air that pushes through its body, causing it to move and raise its four legs. The top of the robot is covered with a layer of self-healing sensors made of transparent rubber material that track the robot's movement. If the sensor is cut, its exposed sides react chemically, allowing it to reconnect.

Self-healing robot

Researchers tested the robot's "damage intelligence" by stabbing the sensor on its leg six times. After each cut, the robot stopped for about a minute to let the sensor heal and then resumed movement. In another experiment, they took turns striking sensors on the robot's legs. After each shot, the robot stopped for a few minutes to heal and then changed its gait in response to the damage.

Bram Vanderbort from Brussels Free University in Belgium says that improving self-healing components for robots will make them more stable, since you will have to throw away only those parts that are damaged too much for self-healing, for example, if they are burned or covered with chemicals.

Ultimately, soft robots with self-healing parts can be used to operate in hazardous conditions, and the self-healing sensors themselves can be integrated into wearable devices, such as space spacesuits, where they can respond to space debris damage.^[1]

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Шаблон:Remarks