A team of researchers led by Chinese scientists has developed a light-propelled launch pad for small robots. The new development is expected to revolutionize the ballistics and aerospace industry.
Light-driven hydrogel launcher inspired by cucumber plants.
Said to release energy in just 0.3 milliseconds, the launcher can take off from any type of surface.
The researchers said the engineered accumulated strain-fracture force-amplification system was inspired by the pressurized fluid secretion mechanism of Ecpalium elatherium (sweeping cucumber plants).
Photothermal response
Published in the magazine NatureThe researchers realized a light-driven hydrogel launcher that uses rapid liquid evaporation triggered by the photothermal response of an embedded graphene suspension.
„This evaporation leads to significant elastic energy storage within the surrounding hydrogel network, followed by rapid elastic energy release within 0.3 ms. These soft hydrogel robots achieve controlled launch at high speeds with a predictable trajectory,” the researchers said.
Robotic tasks that require strong propulsive abilities, such as jumping, extrication or catapulting, require energy-amplification strategies in which kinetic energy is generated from pre-stored energy, the study suggests. To solve this problem, the researchers introduced their game-changing method.
The launcher can travel up to 643 times its own body height and is capable of being used as a soft bullet. It has the potential to use deep tissue sampling as a smart-seeding agricultural robot or medical robots, reports suggest.
The disc-shaped launcher has been tested on both stationary and moving surfaces
The small, disc-shaped launcher is just 7 mm (0.27 in) in diameter and 3 mm thick, but it can travel more than 1.93 m (6.33 ft) vertically. It is reported that the adaptive launch system, which the team tested on immobile and moving surfaces including leaves, bark and viscous fluids, could be used to develop untethered medical robots that require high power output to penetrate deep tissue. SCMP.
Using an accumulated strain energy-breakdown method, researchers developed an artificial cucumber that disperses artificial seeds over meters, further achieving smart seeding with an integrated radio-frequency identification chip.
A power amplification strategy provides the basis for propulsion
This force-amplification strategy provides the basis for propulsion to advance the capabilities of miniaturized soft robotic systems, according to the research.
The researchers also said the system could be used in ballistic weapons. However, they did not conduct any special tests in this area.
The team demonstrated the application of the initiator in a smart seed robot by incorporating the seed and radio frequency identification (RFID) into the hydrogel matrix. When injected into a smart seed bed, RFID is used to identify the seed type through sensors and broadcast maintenance instructions. SCMP.
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About the Editor
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Prabhat is a technology and security journalist. While he enjoys writing about modern weapons and emerging technology, he has also reported on global politics and business. He was previously associated with well-known media houses including International Business Times (Singapore Edition) and ANI.