Bio-Degradable Robots. Is it a far fetched reality?

04 Aug 2018 POSTED BY Vaishnavi Chidambaram

Have you wondered what the human-looking robotic bodies have underneath their coarse looking skin? Well! Even when robots are getting more life-like, their insides are mostly plastic or metallic substances. These materials are hard to dispose of especially after their span. This is because these materials are toxic, non-biodegradable and expensive. Scientists in Italy are researching on developing biodegradable bodies for robots!

Their goal is to create smart materials that decay just like human skin. So that at the end of a robot’s ‘life’, it could be buried. Thus it can be ensured that there is no environmental threat.

Zero environmental impact with decommissioned robots

When industrial robots stop working, they are replaced with newer versions. This is called ‘decommissioning’. Here comes the need for disposing of them. Most of these robots are made from plastic. The more dangerous impact is that within these robots are many electronic sensors, motion detectors, batteries, motors and other harmful robotic parts that pose danger, especially the robots that are constructed as a single operational unit. Disposing of these harmful decommissioned robots are thus a threat to the environment!

Developing robots that can rot!

The research team at ITT (Italian Institute of Technology) in Genoa uses a ‘mix and match’ approach for developing the ‘smart materials’ required to build biodegradable robots. This is done by combining various nanomaterials to generate products with new properties. Other existing materials are cotton or paper or different foams from synthetic foams like polyurethane or forms of cotton.

Dr Athanassia Athanassiou’s team at ITT has developed bioplastics manufactured from vegetables. Additionally, what makes the material unique is that unlike normal plastic materials that are made from petroleum products, these are made from industrial food waste. The bioplastic materials are hence claimed non-toxic. These are thus safe for the environment since they use up less energy and water resources for their manufacture.

‘These natural biodegradable materials are also very flexible and so are used for robotic skins’ explains DR Athanassiou. And as for the internal parts of a robot, these materials can be made hard. Sensors can also be incorporated into the flexible robotic skin.

The advantage is that the robots made with these biodegradable smart materials instead of the electronic components incorporated in them, the robots would be more efficient. They would then be recyclable!

Source: SastraRobotics