Most robots use the most disparate methods of locomotion: legs, wheels, tracks and who knows what else. Some devices under study exploit air actuators' to move like starfish or spiders. Still others move like snakes.
The protagonist of this article does none of this. He moves rather like a thin worm. A very, very thin worm. A spaghetti: but what do I say, a robot thread.
Thinking about it it really seems a bit disturbing, but I assure you of two things: first, it's even worse when you see it (and you'll see it, the video is further down). Second, this robot wire will save many human lives.
This articulated robot was developed by a team of engineers at MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to travel our blood vessels with agility. The ultra thin device makes its way by rotating, crawling, swaying and stretching through the veins.
How it's done
The robot is in effect a small metal structure covered with hydrogel. It can be guided to its destination with the use of a magnet to change direction.
In theory, this technology can be used as a nucleus around which to build medical devices capable of crossing the veins to perform various medical procedures.
There are many applications: the main and most useful one will be the cleaning of blocked arteries, and it will be possible to do this with control that has never been so precise before.
Current techniques often make use of passive guides which work a bit like a bricklayer's 'plumb line'. A truly incredibly archaic method, and can cause damage to delicate vessels. By passing in such an imprecise way, friction inside the wells is practically certain, especially in the 'narrower' passages or at junctions.
