Slime-Riding Robot

[petek]

Just wait until the GDC sees this: a slime-riding robot [NewScientistTech] that uses adherent polymer to gain traction to the intestinal wall.

Right now it's just a proof of principle, but according to the article "[its developer, Dimitra Dodou (Delft University of Technology)] plans to test a prototype snail-bot carrying a camera, a tool for taking biopsies and a communications link inside a length of pig gut."

I say: Chutes & Ladders in FRC 2008!

(I get a little envious to think that this is the kind of stuff some our biomedically-oriented students might be working with when they start their careers)

[KarenH]

Forget the games! I want one for my next colonoscopy!! On second thought, what if the gadget gets lost inside and can't find its way out??

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Pete,
I remember a big announcement several years ago that scientists were studying the snail mucous because it had some incredible properties. i.e. it became a near solid when pressure was exerted by the snail's underside for forward locomotion but it also was an incredible lubricant after the snail had passed. Scientists thought at that time, a duplicate might make a really low loss transmission/clutch. Haven't heard much about it since.

[petek]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

Pete,
I remember a big announcement several years ago that scientists were studying the snail mucous because it had some incredible properties. i.e. it became a near solid when pressure was exerted by the snail's underside for forward locomotion but it also was an incredible lubricant after the snail had passed. Scientists thought at that time, a duplicate might make a really low loss transmission/clutch. Haven't heard much about it since.

Good call Al! For more than you probably want to know about the subject, here's a paper that discusses invertebrate mucus properties. They speculate that these critters control their mucus' adhesive and locomotive properties by protein expression.