Researchers turn small swarm of robots into Gauss gun able to penetrate tissues

Science is to the point today where we can build tiny nano machines that are capable of being injected into a human body. The challenge now is to make those tiny machines usable for treating different conditions inside the body. One way that researchers are controlling tiny robots inside the body is by using an MRI machine that allows the delivery of control signal to the machines and allows researchers to see what the robots are doing and where they are going.

New research was presented last month at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation by several researchers from the University of Houston and Boston Children's Hospital. The researchers have been able to show how a small swarm of robots can turn themselves into a Gauss gun that is able to fire a projectile able to penetrate tissues.

A Gauss gun is a device that is able to transfer force using a series of magnets that turn the stored magnetic potential energy into kinetic energy that is able to move a projectile. The theory is that the self-assembling Gauss gun would work by steering tiny robots inside the body using an MRI machine.

Each of the little robots would be moved to a precise location in sequence and once in place, attach to form the gun. A trigger robot would be sent in last and when it connects with the gun, the gun would fire. So far, tests haven't been performed at bloodstream scale. The projectile would be a needle loaded with drugs or simply a needle with nothing in it used to break blood clots.

SOURCE: Spectrum