The Chembots Are Coming

Update (October 20, 2009)

Related post:

• "The Chembots are Coming! It's Just Like "Terminator 2"! "
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (October 20, 2009)

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"Futuristic Chembots Squeeze Through Small Spaces"
LiveScience (July 1, 2008)

"Soft and squishy chemical robots will one day squeeze through tight spots then expand to 10 times larger, offering an advantage over rigid robots. Once a mission is complete, a chembot would biodegrade.

"The chembots could get into a building through a crack, for example. They could explore a cave or crevice and dismantle an explosive. Or they might climb ropes, wires or trees. Another tiny idea: One chembot could pack a smaller chembot into a situation, then release it for even more minute explorations.

"Researchers at Tufts University have received a $3.3 million contract from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to build the soft automatons...."

The article comes with a diagram, showing how a chembot would crawl and squeeze itself through a hole that's not as wide as it is.

Exciting possibilities.

The idea of chembots came from neurobiologist Barry Trimmer's studies of the nervous systems of caterpillars.