Terminator 2 comes to life: a shapeshifting robot liquefies to escape a cage, then reverts to its original form – just like a scene in the 1991 film
In the 1991 film Terminator 2: Judgment Day, T-1000 liquefies to go through metal bars and this sci-fi scene is re-enacted in a real-world robot.
A video of a shape-shifting robot shows how it’s trapped in a cage, melts, and then slides through the bars, where it reforms on the outside.
Researchers led by the Chinese University of Hong Kong created the new phase-shifting material by embedding magnetic particles in gallium, a metal with a very low melting point of 85 degrees Fahrenheit.
While the team doesn’t see the innovation threatening humanity like it did in the Terminator movie, they do foresee it removing foreign objects from the body or delivering drugs on demand.
Scientists tested the robot through a series of “obstacles.” A human-shaped robot was seen in a cage
The engineers say their robots are not only capable of shapeshifting, but are magnetic and can also conduct electricity.
The robots were tested in mobility and shape-shifting obstacle courses.
READ MORE: Shape-shifting liquid engine propels itself by ‘eating’ metal.
Terminator 2’s terrifying dystopia of shape-shifting metal assassins may not have been as far-fetched as once thought.
Researchers from China created droplets of liquid metal that move through obstacle courses and Petri dishes by “eating” aluminum flakes.
team leader dr Chengfeng Pan explained that “soft” robots have the opposite problem where traditional robots are hard and stiff; They are flexible but weak, and their movements are difficult to control.
“Enabling robots to switch between liquid and solid states gives them more functionality,” Pan said.
Lead author Professor Carmel Majidi, a mechanical engineer at Carnegie Mellon University in Canada, said: “The magnetic particles have two roles here.
“One is that they make the material respond to an alternating magnetic field, so you can inductively heat the material and cause the phase change.
“But the magnetic particles also give the robots mobility and the ability to move in response to the magnetic field.”
He explained that the process is in contrast to existing phase-shift materials that rely on heat guns, electrical currents, or other external heat sources to induce a solid-to-liquid transformation.
According to Prof. Majidi, the new material also exhibits an “extremely fluid” liquid phase compared to other phase-change materials whose “liquid” phases are considerably more viscous.
Before exploring possible applications, the team tested the material’s mobility and strength in different scenarios.
The robot appears to be inspired by Terminator 2: Judgment Day. In the 1991 film, T-1000 liquefies to pass through metal bars
The robot liquefies and slides through the bars. This is due to magnetic particles embedded in gallium, a metal with a very low melting point of 85 degrees Fahrenheit.
Using a magnetic field, the robots jumped over moats, climbed walls, and even split in half to move other objects cooperatively before rejoining.
“Now we’re pushing this material system in a more practical way to solve some very specific medical and engineering problems,” Pan said.
The team also used the robots to remove a foreign object from a model stomach and administer drugs into the same stomach as needed.
The robot can be heated and is pulled in a specific direction by an external magnet
Outside the cage, the robot molds itself back into its solid form
The innovation can also be used as a smart soldering robot for assembling and repairing wireless circuits and as a universal mechanical “screw” for assembling parts in hard-to-reach places.
Prof. Majidi added: “Future work should further explore how these robots could be used in a biomedical context.
“What we are showing are just one-off demonstrations, proofs of concept, but many more studies are needed to explore how this might actually be used for drug delivery or foreign body removal.”