While many biohybrid robot projects are impressive, they’re not exactly known for their hairpin turns. In fact, designing agile machines that combine artificial materials and biological tissues remains quite challenging. But if future generations of biohybrids can one day overcome that hurdle, it may be thanks to a pair of cute, if mostly useless, robolegs.
Researchers at the University of Tokyo have detailed the 3cm-tall piece in a new study published today. Case. By combining 3D-printed parts, rubber, and lab-grown rat muscle tissue cells, the team was able to create a proof-of-concept minibot that allowed him to rotate 90 degrees while suspended in water. did. To make it work, one “leg” receives tiny electrical pulses that cause the rat’s muscle actuators to contract, while the other “leg” acts as a fixed point of support. In doing so, the biohybrid prototype was able to rotate through angles previously impossible with similar robot designs.
[Related: Meet xenobots, tiny machines made out of living parts.]
That’s a pretty big problem…although… Unbelievably A slow one. The researchers say their robot moves in 5.4mm increments per minute thanks to electrical impulses delivered underwater at five-second intervals. But before you think this is a little harsh on this little guy, hear what team member Shoji Takeuchi has to say.
“This is still basic research. This robot itself is not at a stage where it can be used anywhere,” he said. new scientist.
As it stands (so to speak), without a buoy support system, the biohybrid can’t even stay upright in the water. It also requires constant monitoring and water conduits to stimulate muscle actuators. Takeuchi says setting it up on dry land would require a thicker muscle design, additional joints, and some kind of nutritional system to keep the tissue culture alive.
Writing in progress their papersThe researchers say their progress could potentially “contribute to a deeper understanding of biological locomotor mechanisms,” as well as allow biohybrid robots to “further explore the complexity of human locomotor mechanisms.” I believe that it has the potential to pave the way for imitation.
After a few more years of lifting weights in land-based gyms (i.e. advances in the lab), more complex iterations of robots could return to the water as deep-sea explorers. science It also notes that biohybrid designs could eventually be deployed in search-and-rescue missions as well. It might sound a little creepy to be saved by a biorobot made from rat muscle, but it’s either that or a spiderbot.