Meet the robot capable of navigating through the human body

Scientists from the American universities of Stanford and Ohio State have developed a very light and soft robot, inspired by origami and earthworms. According to them, the objective was to create something capable of storing and taking medication to the patient's body in a more efficient and less invasive way.

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How does the robot work?

According to the scientists responsible for the research, the robot works as a tracker and is activated through magnetism to move inside people's bodies. That way, he's very malleable, which allows him to get through tight spots very easily.

Basically, when moving through our body, the little robot generates a lever movement in its own structure, called axial contraction under torque. This type of joint is called a Kresling joint and was bio-inspired by origami containing four units.

Even earthworms were the basis for developing this movement system. Through hours of studying the way they use their bodies to move around and based on the Japanese folding technique, they were able to perfect the way the bot crawls. All this without unnecessary energy expenditure.

The robot's magnetic system

In order for the robot to be able to reach the desired levels of contraction, similar to those of the earthworm, the researchers had to use technology with a magnetic drive system. For them, this is the fastest and most effective way to get results without worrying too much about the body's tight spaces.

For this, each robot has about four plates made of silicones and some hard metallic particles. In this way, there is an increase in the magnetization density, which can adapt in relation to the operation need. Therefore, it is possible to save a lot of energy and make the device more autonomous.

Through this system, the scientists point out that it is possible to increase the robot with mini-cameras, capsules for medicines and forceps.