London, October 17 (ANI): A technology company has developed a new military robot that resembles an oozy blob, which has the ability to squeeze through all manner of cracks and crevices.
According to a report in The Sun, the 'ChemBot', made by technology company iRobot, can ooze and pulsate across the floor.
This little robot is not just a fun gimmick, as the company were in fact given military funding to build the blob.
The idea is that the palm-sized machine can assist in reconnaissance or search and rescue missions by transforming to fit through tiny spaces.
Its secret is a process called "jamming" which sees material changing between a semi-liquid and solid state by increasing and decreasing its density.
The ChemBot, short for chemical robot, features compartments filled with air and loosely packed particles within its flexible silicon skin.
When the air is removed, the decrease in pressure constricts the skin and the particles shift slightly to fill the void left by the air, resulting in the solidification of the compartment.
Beneath the skin is an incompressible fluid and an actuator that can vary its volume.
Still at an early stage of development, potential applications for ChemBots include space exploration, military operations and medical devices that can be implanted in the human body.
They might also prove useful for rescue operations in hostile environments such as subterranean or undersea mines and caves. (ANI)
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