Page 7 - IAV Digital Magazine #436

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
Scientists Are Getting Closer to Making Edible Gelatin Robots That Can Function Inside Your Body
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
By Aric Jenkins
from Switzerland’s École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) presented a proto- type of a gelatin- based actuator, according to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ maga- zine, Spectrum.
ent or pharmaceuti- cal components for digestion and metabolization.
“Fully edible robots would help to study how wild animals collectively behave. The robots could also take a role of animals prey to observe their hunt- ing behaviors, or to train protected ani- mals to do preda- tion,” the researchers write.
In the near future, you may be able to eat a robot that will heal you or provide nutrients.
“Potential applica- tions are disposable robots for explo- ration, digestible robots for medical purposes in humans and animals, and food transportation where the robot does not require additional payload because the robot is the food,” they add.
It may sound like science fiction, but researchers are closing in on the cre- ation of an ingestible robot that can per- form a variety of functions from within the human body.
Actuators are the components that allow a mechanism to physically move. So, while doctors can already insert machines like pace- makers into your body, those are sta- tionary and also require invasive sur-
gery.
tions.
The researchers in their paper
explain that “the components of such edible robots could be mixed with nutri-
“Once medical com- ponents are mixed into the edible com- position, the robots could help preserva- tion of wild animals or heal inside of the human body,” they add.
At the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems in Vancouver last week, researchers
It’s unlikely that the gelatin robots are very tasty, but they would have a wide variety of applica-
And the robots wouldn’t be limited to just human use either.