A group of scientists from China and Australia designed a robot based on liquid metal, inspired by the movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day. They hope that the development can be used for the benefit of humanity.
In a recent interview, professor of robotics at Suzhou University Li Xiangpeng talked about his new development.
“We were inspired by the T-1000 from Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” Xiangpeng told the South China Morning Post.
Fortunately, it was not the killer robot instinct from the movie that prompted the scientist to create the liquid metal robot. On the contrary, he was interested in his ability to change shape. Despite the fact that his robot is still very inferior in its abilities to the one that James Cameron showed the world, this is the first step towards creating advanced machines.
Stages of the experiment with a liquid metal robot.
Xiangpeng and other researchers from China and Australia have detailed the technology in an article for Advanced Materials.
The robot consists of only three parts: a plastic wheel, a small lithium battery, and droplets of a gallium-based liquid metal alloy. The battery voltage is changed by the center of gravity of the liquid metal, which contributes to the flow of the robot to one side or the other.
Researchers are confident that their development will serve as inspiration for other devices - just as the film once inspired them to create this little robot.
Promotional video:
“We look forward to further developing soft robots using liquid metal. They can be used in special missions such as the search and rescue of earthquake victims, as robots can change shape in order to penetrate doors or crawl through spaces in which a person cannot fit,”said researcher Tan Shiyan.
Vladimir Guillen