Biohybrid Robots

When people think of robots, most think of machines being controlled by motors and powered by some type of energy source. Certain robots, especially those in factories, can be dangerous as there are many moving parts, and with large machinery there is lots of risk for the user. To make these robots safer many engineers have looked at implementing measures of saftey to help dampen the impact or lessen injury. On the other hamd, other engineers are combining robots with tissue engineering. By combining robots with organic tissue the robots can move around as if they were soft organisms giving less risk of injury towards operators. These robots are known as biobots. You may be asking, "how does one make a biobot?" Well inorder to make these biobots, researchers have made living cells which mold on to skeletons. The living cells have been made from the hearts or skeletal muscles of small animals like chickens. In order to allign the cells correctly the researchers have printed microscale lines on the skeletons which allow the cells to attach correctly. Researchers have been able to make theses biobots swim and crawl, and more recently Researchers have figured out how to direct the biobots.

I found this article particularly interesting as I believe the merge between biotic forms of life and robots are the future of robotics. I think it is cool to think that things that are more like animals are safer than the standard mechanical robots we have made over time. This goes to show that sometimes the things that nature presents are still superior than the things we have created. I am interested to see what these biobots can do in the future.


http://www.livescience.com/55731-biohybrid-robots-built-from-living-tissue-start-to-take-shape.html