Form shifters have lengthy been the stuff of speculative fiction, however researchers in China have developed a magnetoactive part transitional matter (MPTM) that makes Odo slipping by an air vent that rather more plausible.

Gentle robots can squeeze into small areas or change form as wanted, however many of those programs aren’t as robust as their extra mechanically inflexible siblings. Impressed by the ocean cucumber’s potential to govern its rigidity, this new MPTM may be inductively heated to a molten state to alter form in addition to encapsulate or launch supplies. The neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) microparticles suspended in gallium will then return to stable kind as soon as cooled.

Functions in drug supply, overseas object removing, and good soldering (video after the break) in all probability have extra actual world affect than the LEGO minifig T1000 impersonation, regardless of how cool that appears. Whereas a pick-and-place can do higher soldering work on a manufacturing unit line, there is likely to be restore conditions the place a magnetically-controlled solder system may turn out to be useful.

We’ve seen earlier work with liquid robots utilizing gallium and bio-electronic hybrids additionally portending the squishy way forward for robotics.

Through ArsTechnica