By Charles Carter, 22/09/22
Innovators from Jacobs School of Engineering, UC San Diego have developed soft robots that use bioluminescent algae to glow in the dark.
They bots give off light when experiencing mechanical stress, such as being squished, stretched, twisted or bent e.g. when they swim around.
They could have potential applications in dark and remote environments like deep sea exploration.
How does it work?
The bodies of the soft robots are made from a stretchy transparent elastomer material with filled with a solution of bioluminescent algae called dinoflagellates.
The algae produce light when under mechanical stress and can sometimes be seen on the San Diego coast lighting up under the forces of the waves.
The elastomer is porous enough to let gases like oxygen through so but not so much as to let the solution leak out. These gases are key to the dinoflagellates being able to survive for over a month inside the bots.
The bots are able to move through hydraulic actuation or by applying external magnetic fields which act upon magnets embedded in each leg.
The X-shaped quadruped uses magnetic forces to swim in seawater.
The algae need recharging with sunlight during the day which gives them the juice they need to glow during the night.
Tangent box (algae -> blue whales): Blue whales, the largest creatures on earth, can be found munching through 16 tons of plankton daily, including algae, off the coast of San Diego. Although krill is their main source of food.
What are the potential benefits?
The bots do not require a local power supply to glow which could lend itself well to dark and remote environments like deep sea exploration.
The team say the bots could help illuminate plants and animals in the deep to aid discovery of new species, for example.
And they could provide optical signaling between divers to enable better communication in the pitch black.
Questions for you. Comment below
- First thought that comes into your head?
- Pros and cons according to you?
- Other applications of this approach?
- What could this be combined with?
Links
https://jacobsschool.ucsd.edu/news/release/3507
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-31705-6
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/whales-eat-three-times-more-than-thought
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