June 1, 2015

“An Untethered Miniature Origami Robot that Self-folds, Walks, Swims, and Degrades.”

Fascinating.... but very, very creepy:

"And the tiny bot does even more than that, lifiting twice its mass, moving through objects, and moving things around via magnet. The itty bitty bot can move at speeds of 3 and 4cm/s. When you’re done playing with this little robot, it can self-degrade in acetone, leaving nothing but its magnet behind. The implications of this little treasure are huge and in the future, robots like these will be able to move through the human body to help it heal from various ailments. -- Visual News

Why does this "innovation" creep me out? Well, as is noted elsewhere.....

This is the first time that a robot has been able to demonstrate a complete life cycle like this, and eventually, it’ll be doing it inside your body. - IEEE Spectrum

"He had trained it, probably by the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but sooner or later she must fall a victim." -- The Adventure of the Speckled Band
Posted by gerardvanderleun at June 1, 2015 10:30 AM
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Hope I die before I...experience miniature origami robots that visit me late at night.

Posted by: tim at June 1, 2015 11:34 AM

Warning: Watch what you eat.

It would be a good idea you sweep your food for "bugs" before consumption.

ghost, this means you too.

Posted by: chasmatic at June 2, 2015 9:11 AM

imagine a million, or a billion of these. Read: Lem, THE INVINCIBLE

Posted by: Haxo Angmark at June 2, 2015 11:47 PM