Phase-changing material ‘can be used to create malleable robotics’

A new phase-changing material has been created in the US that could offer significant potential in the creation of low-cost, malleable robotics.

Developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the material is built from wax and foam and is capable of switching between hard and soft states simply by heating it or cooling it down.

The overall aim of the project was to create a material soft enough to manoeuvre into small spaces, before expanding again and becoming firm enough to manipulate and interact with its surroundings.

It could, for example, be used to create deformable surgical robots that can move through the body to reach a particular point without damaging any other organs or vessels, or a tracking device that can squeeze through rubble looking for survivors in search-and-rescue operations.

Anette Hosoi, a professor of mechanical engineering and applied mathematics at MIT, said: "This material is self-healing. So if you push it too far and fracture the coating, you can heat it and then cool it, and the structure returns to its original configuration."

Flexible robotics remains an important new engineering frontier. Earlier this year, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council awarded a 1.07 million pound grant to a team working on a ultra-flexible tactile skin for robotic and prosthetic devices.