Futuristic 'Chembots' Could Squeeze Through Small Spaces

Soft and squishy chemical robots will one day squeeze through tight spots, then expand to 10 times larger, offering an advantage over rigid robots.

Once a mission is complete, a chembot would biodegrade.

The chembots could get into a building through a crack, for example. They could explore a cave or crevice and dismantle an explosive. Or they might climb ropes, wires or trees.

Another tiny idea: One chembot could pack a smaller chembot into a situation, then release it for even more minute explorations.

Researchers at Tufts University have received a $3.3 million contract from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to build the soft automatons.

ChemBots represent "the convergence of soft materials chemistry and robotics. It is an entirely new way of looking at robots and could someday yield great technological advantage for our armed forces," said Mitchell Zakin, who oversees the program for DARPA.

From Our friends at DARPA :)............

During military operations it can be important to gain covert access to denied or hostile space. Unmanned platforms such as mechanical robots are of limited effectiveness if the only available points of entry are small openings.

The goal of the Chemical Robots (ChemBots) Program is to create a new class of soft, flexible, mesoscale mobile objects that can identify and maneuver through openings smaller than their dimensions and perform various tasks.

The program seeks to develop a ChemBot that can perform several operations in sequence:

•Travel a distance;
•Traverse an arbitrary-shaped opening much smaller than the largest characteristic dimension of the robot itself;
•Reconstitute its size, shape, and functionality after traversing the opening;
•Travel a distance; and
•Perform a function or task using an embedded payload.
This program creates a convergence between materials chemistry and robotics through the application of any one of a number of approaches, including gel-solid phase transitions, electro- and magneto-rheological materials, geometric transitions, and reversible chemical and/or particle association and dissociation.

With ChemBots, our warfighters can gain access to denied spaces and perform tasks safely, covertly, and efficiently.

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[jjumbojett]

this type of material could be used to rebuild organs, such as intestines that need peristalisis, the expansion and relaxation of materila could assist in diaphramatic breathing rather than external machines for SCI patients. This material could replace the orbicularis muscle of the sphincter, and SCI or Colon Cancer patients won't have to use a colostomy bag. Just for war...why. I go insane over the possibilites of medical application.

[dumbbell33]

jjumbojett thats brilliant mate ! well said ,..

Imagine these things as Earthquake rescue equipment,. in a bigger form ,.they could lift fallen walls ,.its needed in Haiti right now,..these slimebags just want to kill more folks with it,..

[dumbbell33]

They could be using this system to free survivors trapped under rubble after earthquakes ,..and should be doin it now.

but wont ,..

its about killing folks ,..not saving them.

[judgeofcrap]

by save lifes on the battle feild they mean it will kill the enemy

[seriouslyWeird]

fox news has to be the stupidiest news ever by the way

[bfdpowers]

@KOGR11 hahahaha

[KOGR11]

really badly done presentation by fox news, result of a degree in humanities

[EGarrett01]

Try to be less of an ignorant cliche, please.

[gexzero]

pretty intersting but i see no real use 4 them unless u pack them with explosives.. but them combineing into a huge 1 is a scary concept. imagine 1 of those chaseing u down rawr! oh then + then fill with bombs ahh exploding blob haha.

[SwedeRunner]

Once it gets through the crack, how will they know where to go? I don't think they've invented squishy video cameras yet...