Jessica MacNeil

Professors engineer a new kind of robot

The day where robotic capabilities rival T2’s T-1000, may be closer than you think.

The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has issued Tufts University professors a $3.3 million contract for research to create chemical robots that will have the ability to squeeze through spaces as small as 1 centimeter, grow to 10 times that size, and biodegrade.

Called “chembots,” the devices will be able to enter complex and dangerous environments, where they will use features such as landmine detection, the ability to climb, search and rescue in hazardous conditions, and biomedical diagnosis. They will even be able to carry a smaller version of themselves to access the smallest of spaces.

In addition to the advantages in access, the chembots will use little power and possibly be able to disable explosive devices. 

The Tufts team, lead by Professor of Biology Barry Trimmer, the Henry Bromfield Pearson Professor of Natural Sciences and co-principal investigator on the project, are basing the project on the neuromechanical system of the Manduca sexta caterpillar and the material properties of biopolymers.

Based on nearly two decades of research on the Manduca’s nervous system, Trimmer plans to provide the chembots with a similar climbing ability, flexibility and scalability— the caterpillar grows 10,000 fold in mass through its larval stage using the same number of muscles and motor neurons.

The materials used will be designed from bioengineered polymers, which will provide the advantage of biodegradability, so the chembots need not be retrieved after they accomplish tasks. This feature would make the robots useful in the medical field in addition to military missions, according to co-principal investigator David Kaplan, Stern Family Professor of Biomedical Engineering and chair of biomedical engineering.

The chembot will also ideally have the ability to communicate wirelessly through multiple hair-like sensors for temperature, pressure, chemical, and audio/video signals.

This technological collaboration of chemistry and robotics could potentially revolutionize robots through the use of soft materials, as opposed to the typically rigid metals often used presently.

Other members of the team include Associate Professor Luis Dorfmann, civil and environmental engineering; Assistant Professor Valencia Joyner, electrical and computer engineering; Senior Lecturer Gary Leisk, mechanical engineering; Assistant Professor Sameer Sonkusale, electrical and computer engineering,; and Assistant Professor Robert White, mechanical engineering.

Posted by Jessica MacNeil on July 1, 2008 | Comments (1)