A stealthy little spy robot, small enough to remain undetected, is capable of self-destructing into a pool of oily goo once its mission is completed. Such robots could be used to covertly gather data, vanishing before falling into the wrong hands.
The robot is a type of soft robot, which means it consists of materials that are more flexible than the hard ones typically used in conventional robotics. Soft robots have previously been proposed for jobs like delivering medicine to wild animals by mimicking small, swallowable prey, says at the University of Bristol, who wasn鈥檛 involved in the work.
at Seoul National University in South Korea and his colleagues built the robot using a silicone composite they created that degrades quickly after it is exposed to UV light and heat. The robot is about 3 centimetres long, has four legs and moves using pneumatic air that allows it to scrunch up and scoot across a surface like an inchworm.
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The researchers simulated a mission to test the robot where it had to scout out an unknown environment and then destroy itself before it got into enemy hands. The robot first took temperature readings from a heat gun and then moved to a different zone using photodetectors to sense the light of a UV lamp. In a third zone, it alerted the researchers when temperature levels became too high.
To complete its mission, the robot found and moved onto a hot plate heated to 120掳C (248掳F). The sequence of UV exposure and heat caused the robot鈥檚 body to disintegrate into an oily fluid in about an hour.
The researchers write that soft robots like this could have applications as 鈥渉ardware security in military operations like scouting, invasion, or transport鈥�, since they can deteriorate before being recovered by enemies.
at Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania says that the robot is more prototype than field-ready, but the study presents interesting research nonetheless. 鈥淩econnaissance and data collection [by the robot] I think is optimistic,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he researchers are selling a vision that it would be doing spying maybe in 20 years.鈥�
arXiv
