Have you ever wondered how to transport objects through the air without drones or bulky devices? Imagine a soft ring that slides silently along a wire, carrying loads up to 12 times its weight. Researchers at North Carolina State University they turned this vision into reality, creating a special โcable carโ robot, a tiny wire-guided cart that surprises with its features.
It is not a traditional cable car, but a liquid crystal elastomer that twists on itself, moving forward thanks to infrared light. We can define it as a โsoft robotic ringโ, capable of navigating complex routes, overcoming obstacles and tackling slopes of up to 80 degrees.
The ribbon that rolls on invisible threads
I soft robots have been around for a while, but until now they have been limited to moving in water or on solid surfaces. The idea of โโa robot cable car is something completely new. According to Jie Yin, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at North Carolina State University and corresponding author of the study that I link here, the concept is inspired by the cable cars that we see in the mountains.
The design is disarmingly simple: Imagine a very thin โribbonโ of liquid crystal elastomers twisted like a spool and then closed to form a bracelet-like loop. This loop is then wrapped multiple times around a thread. When exposed to infrared light positioned perpendicular to the path, the part of the ribbon that absorbs the most light contracts, triggering a continuous rotational motion that advances the entire loop along the thread.
Robot cable car, performance that defy gravity
I confess that the performance of this little robot cable car left me speechless. This isnโt just a prototype that works only in perfect laboratory conditions: the research team has demonstrated that this contraption can travel on paths as thin as a human hair or a cocktail straw.
We also showed that it can follow complex paths โ it doesnโt have to be a straight line.
These words Fangjie Qi, first author of the study and a PhD student at NC State. The robot can follow curves, circles, three-dimensional spirals and other complex patterns in a controlled manner. And that's not all: it can overcome obstacles on the track, such as knots or bulges, without any problem.
A Bright Future for Microscopic Transport
The real strength of these robotic cable cars lies in their adaptability and ability to solve practical problems. Just think how useful they could be for transporting tiny loads in tight or complex spaces, such as inside machinery or even the human body (although this last application would require further development).
The team is already thinking about the future. Yin said they are evaluating specific applications for this technology and are working to adapt the soft robots to respond to inputs other than infrared light. Imagine cable car robots powered by sunlight or other external energy sources. The possibilities seem endless.
The study, titled โAerial Track-Guided Autonomous Soft Ring Robot,โ was published in the magazine advanced science and is available in open access.
Seen the video of the robot in action? I can't help but think that we are faced with one of those seemingly simple innovations that in the future could radically change the way we think about transporting small objects. And how beautiful it is. Sometimes the most elegant solutions are also the most effective.
