Coating can enable millirobots to change mode of locomotion
Marie Donlon | November 25, 2020A team from the City University of Hong Kong has developed a coating that will turn objects into biocompatible millirobots for healthcare applications.
The coating, which behaves like a glue, is a magnetic spray called M-spray made up of gluten, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and iron particles. Applied to 1D, 2D or 3D objects to serve as millirobots, the spray will adhere to virtually any surface — skin, glass, wood or sand, for example — forming a 0.1 mm to 0.25 mm thick film. Once applied, the coating is exposed to heat to solidify the bond.
When introduced to a magnetic field, the M-spray is activated, enabling the coated millirobot to crawl, walk, flip or roll. According to its developers, the coating can enable operators to reprogram the millirobots’ mode of locomotion — a characteristic that is typically unchanged once a robot is constructed.
In addition to being reprogrammable, the film is also biocompatible and, when saturated, will disintegrate into a powder that can be excreted by the body, making it appropriate for drug delivery or catheter navigation applications.
The research appears in the journal Science Robotics.