How far is the biological robot that is "soft and easy to pull down" from us?

When you hear robots, what most people have in mind is a bunch of metal-plastic components made of hardware—they are usually hardware robots assembled from various nut bolts. At the moment, the robot is leaving the laboratory and walking into everyday life of the people to take on various tasks. For people dealing with robots, such hardware design poses security risks. For example, when an industrial robot "carelessly encounters" a human worker, the consequences are not a joke - it is often bruised and bruised. How to deal with the security risks of hardware robots? Engineers all over the world are more and more inclined to make robots softer and more submissive—no longer a hard machine, but rather closer to a “light and easy-to-tuck” critter. For a conventional drive such as a motor, this means using an artificial "air muscle" or adding a spring structure to the drive train. Festo, Germany: Conceptual Diagram of an Air Muscle Robot Another example is the Whegs robot of Case Western Reserve University. There is a spring device between the motor and the wheel. When hitting someone, the spring can absorb some of the energy and reduce personal injury. See below: The Roomba sweeping robot is another example. Its bumper is spring-loaded and does not damage what it hits (similar to a car's fender). Roomba Bumper Spring-loaded Device But a growing field of research decided to find a way out. Researchers began to use living muscle tissue and cell-making robots by combining robotics with biological tissue engineering. By light and electrical stimulation to shrink the cells, the researchers can control the robot's limb flexion, making them stroke, crawling and other actions. The biological robots manufactured in this way are soft and similar to animals. For working around people, this kind of robot is obviously safer. Moreover, they have less damage to the environment than traditional robots. In addition, bio-robots mainly use nutrients to supplement energy and do not need large battery packs. This makes them lighter than hardware robots. Bio Robots on Titanium Plates How to Develop Bio Robots? Researchers create biological robots by breeding cells. In general, they will use the muscles of myocardium or skeletal muscles of chickens and rats to proliferate on scaffolds that have no toxic side effects on living cells. If the substrate material is a polymer, a biosynthetic robot, a mixture of natural and artificial materials, is manufactured. However, if the cell tissue is placed directly on the molded skeleton, it will cause "wild growth" of the former in all directions. This means that when the electric stimulus is used to make them move, the contraction force of the cell tissue will be uniformly applied in all directions—it cannot be precisely controlled at all, and it is inefficient. To better control the power of the cells, the researchers turned to cell patterning (micropatterning). They used cells to attach materials on them and printed micro-scale lines on the skeleton. These lines act as guides - the tissue tends to grow along it. As a result, the researchers obtained a cell arrangement that matched the design pattern, and how to apply muscle contraction forces to the substrate became controllable. Therefore, all cells can work together to allow the biological robot's legs or fins to behave like animals, rather than a meatball that is shriveled when stimulated. Biomimetic biosynthetic robots In addition to various biosynthetic robots, researchers have also created "pure" bio-robots by using only natural materials - the polymer of the substrate has been replaced by skin collagen, becoming the robot's body. When they are electrically stimulated, they can crawl or swim. Some researchers have been inspired by medical tissue engineering techniques to develop robots that can move forward using right-angled arms (cantilever). There are also scholars who have drawn inspiration from nature and created biomimetic biomimetic robots. For example, a team of California Institute of Technology developed a bionic jellyfish robot "medusoid", which has a tentacle arranged in a ring. With cell patterning technology, each tentacle has printed lines of protein that align cells in a manner similar to that of real jellyfish muscle tissue. As the cells shrink, the tentacles bend inwards, pushing the jellyfish robot forward. Bionic jellyfish robot "medusoid" Recently, researchers at Harvard University demonstrated how to "drive" biosynthetic robots. They use genetically modified heart cells to create a bionic turtle (manta) robot and allow it to swim. These genetically modified cardiomyocytes respond to light at a specific frequency—the robot's cells follow one frequency, and the other side has another frequency, so that the left and right directions of the swimming can be controlled by light changes. As for the forward movement, when the researchers project light to the front of the robot, the cells there will shrink and transmit the electrical signals along the fish. The body's alternating contraction movement from head to tail drives the robot forward. The Bionic Ghost Fish Robot, the golden part is the skeleton (see also the first picture of this article) Stronger Bio Robots Although there have been many breakthroughs in the field of biosynthetic robots, the time to commercialize these robots and put them into use is far from mature. At present, these robots have a short life and small power output, which greatly limits the speed and ability to handle various tasks. In addition, robots developed using avian and mammalian cells are very sensitive to the environment. For example, the ambient temperature must remain close to the biological temperature. Also, like animals, cells need regular nutritional supplements—feeding nutrient solutions. A potential solution is to pack biological robots (similar to skin-to-person protection) so that the impact of the external environment is no longer so deadly, and nutrient solution supplementation can also create an internal system (just like providing nutrition to human cells. The blood circulation system). Another option is to use more skinned cells as a driver. Recently at Case Western Reserve University, scholars explored its feasibility by studying the stubborn sea snail (Aplysia californica). Sea snails inhabit the intertidal zone and experience huge temperature differences and poor salinity every day. At low tide, some sea snails will be trapped in the shallows and the water will evaporate with the light. When it rains, the salt concentration in the surrounding environment will drop dramatically. In order to adapt to the complex and changing habitat conditions, sea snails have evolved a hard shell to protect themselves. The researchers realized the use of sea snail muscle tissue as a driver to drive biosynthetic robots. This means that we can use these stronger cell structures to make biological robots. Lei Feng Wang was informed that at present the robot has been able to carry a small object - 1.6 inches long and 1 inch wide. Bio-robots using some sea snails Challenges and perspectives Another big challenge for bio-robots is that no airborne control system (mounted on robots) has been developed yet. Engineers can only control them through external electric fields or light. In order to develop a fully autonomous biosynthetic robot, we need a controller that can directly communicate with robotic muscle tissue and provide sensor input. The seemingly straightforward solution (and probably the most difficult one) is the use of neurons composed of neurons or neuron clusters as biological controllers. This is another reason why researchers are so concerned about sea snails: it has been used as a model system by neurobiological research for many years. Its relationship between the nervous system and muscle has been studied more thoroughly. This opens the door to using its neurons as biological controllers. In the future, researchers hope to use the biological controller to tell the robot how to move and help it deal with various tasks, such as finding toxic substances and following light. The field of synthetic biology is in its infancy, but researchers have already envisioned many applications for it. For example, a group of mini-robots using sea snails can be created and then a large group can be released into reservoirs or seawater to search for leaking pipes or toxic substances. Since these robots are made of biological tissue, if they are broken or eaten by marine fish, they will not have a great impact on the environment. In the future, biological robots manufactured using human cells can be applied to the medical field. As far as Leifeng.net knows, they can carry out targeted drug delivery, handle thrombosis, or become a controlled, adjustable stent. These mini-robots strengthen weakened blood vessels to prevent aneurysms. Due to the use of biological media, rather than polymers, they can be readjusted and become part of the patient's body over time. In addition, advances in biological tissue engineering (such as the development of artificial blood circulation systems) are likely to open a new door: large-scale biological robots that act on muscles. Victor holding Frankenstein At that time, it would be difficult to distinguish between animal and biological robots on the outside. More intriguing is that, at that point, it would be technically possible to create "humanoid" robots with human biological characteristics. Whether anyone will do this in reality will depend on ethical progress and legislation. . However, Xiao Bian asked himself: How many lesbians can resist the temptation of “maid”? (Hey, Lao Wang robot company, I want to set a spring wild picnic) The development of technology is irreversible, Pandora's Box once opened, did not return. It may not be appropriate to use Pandora as an example here—because the result of this technological progress is not good or bad. It is the redefinition of ethics, morality, life, and human beings that bring about radical changes in all aspects of society.