The phrase “I will be back” sounds like something familiar and familiar, often used in any life situation, because many of us remember the Hollywood movie about the Terminator and other robots that were his antagonists. But what was then an artistic fiction has become a reality today.

For example, Chinese and Australian scientists, inspired by this movie, in particular by the liquid robot T-1000, created their own miniature prototype that can change shape.

Representatives from the University of Science and Technology of China, Suzhou University, and the University of Wollongong, located in Australia, joined this project.

They have developed a unique robot. As you can see for yourself. It has an interesting composition and structure.

The robot consists of:

• plastic wheel;
• lithium battery;
• drops of liquid gallium alloy.

As you can see, gallium is one of the main components of the device. It is a non-toxic material that can change from one state to another, i.e. from soft to hard, at varying ambient temperatures. Its melting point reaches 29.76 C. This material can be melted by holding it in your hands.

So, the developers built a gallium matrix with magnetic particles into the robot, which they called a “magnetoactive solid-liquid phase transition machine.”

The robot is controlled by magnets that cause particles to move, melt, and stretch.

These magnetic particles enable the device to respond to an alternating magnetic field. This creates electricity inside the metal, which raises its temperature. Majidi emphasizes that induction heats the metal and changes the phase, then, after the environment cools down, the material solidifies again.

The scientists tested the device and found that they can jump over small holes, climb over obstacles of various kinds, and separate to perform tasks, such as moving objects before recombining and re-curing.

In addition, the new robot was able to jump to a height that was 20 times its body length, soldered a circuit board, and was able to hold an object that was 30 times heavier than it was in solid form.

Interestingly, the developers have proposed using this technology in biomedicine. To make it clear how the procedure would go, a scientific experiment was conducted.

The course of the experiment

• Scientists placed a small ball inside a model of the human stomach.
• The robot had to be in a solid state – this is the main condition.
• He quickly approached the ball. At the same time, it melted.
• In its molten state, it surrounded the ball.
• Then the robot hardened again and moved out of the model together with the object.

In this experiment, the scientists used gallium, but the real human stomach, not its model, has a temperature of about 100 degrees Fahrenheit, which is much higher than the melting point of the metal. The authors write that in this case, more metals can be added to increase the melting point of the device.

Thus, according to Li Zhang, a mechanical engineer at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, gallium robots are the future of global robotics. They will be able to assemble and repair hard-to-reach objects and act as a universal screw.