New Scientist reporter Rowan Hooper writes about how MIT researchers have developed a 1.7-centimeter long origami robot that can self-fold, walk and swim. Hooper explains that, “using liquid-soluble materials, different versions of the robot can dissolve in either water or acetone, leaving only the permanent magnet behind.”
BetaBoston reporter Nidhi Subbaraman writes that MIT researchers have developed a small self-folding robot that they hope will one day lead to bio-compatible robots that “could enter the body, perform surgery guided from afar, and dissolve away as harmlessly as surgical stitches.”
MIT researchers have created a tiny, self-assembling, origami robot that they hope could one day be small enough to enter the human body and perform medical tasks, reports Lauren Walker for Newsweek. “Driven by magnetic fields, the robot can travel on both land and water at the speed of three or four centimeters per second," Walker explains.
Lauren O’Neil of CBC News reports on a new self-folding origami robot created by researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). The robot “could eventually become small enough to fold into the human body, perform medical tasks, and then dissolve itself when finished — all by itself,” O’Neil reports.
Chris Baraniuk of New Scientist writes that Prof. Neri Oxman has designed a 3-D printed wearable technology inspired by the human gastrointestinal tract. “Oxman is experimenting with the idea of futuristic wearables that can do useful things such as produce consumables or give off scents,” writes Baraniuk.
Conor Gaffey writes for Newsweek about new body armor being developed by researchers at MIT and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. The design is based on fish scales and “mimics the overlapping layers of hard scales and soft tissues found in certain fish, using 3D printers,” reports Gaffey.
"The idea here is to take existing material systems like fibres, sheets, strands and three-dimensional objects and program them to change shape and property on demand," says Skylar Tibbits, director of the Self Assembly Lab of his group’s new materials that can be programmed to transform autonomously.
Steve Annear of Boston Magazine writes about ‘Sesame Rings’ first developed by a group including MIT undergraduates. The ring acts as a stored-value MBTA pass for using public transportation in and around Boston.
“Three MIT students designed and built a 3D printer that extrudes 3D ice-cream treats in custom shapes,” reports Boston.com. The design was part of a class project on additive manufacturing.
“The main reason we feel an ice cream 3D printer is an important addition to current additive manufacturing technology is that it interests children,” said MIT students who designed a 3D ice cream printer, reports Samuel Gibbs for The Guardian.
Paul Marks writes for The New Scientist about Protoprint, a company founded by MIT alumnus Sidhant Pai that strives to get decent prices for pickers collecting plastic by repurposing plastic waste for 3D printing. "Our waste-pickers will earn 15 to 20 times more for the same amount of plastic," says Pai.
Associated Press reporter Rodrique Ngowi writes about how researchers at the MIT Media Lab have developed a prototype of an audio reading device for the blind. The device, which is in the early stages of development, is produced by a 3-D printer and is equipped with a small camera that scans text.
Wall Street Journal reporter Elizabeth Yuan writes about the OrigamiUSA convention and Professor Erik Demaine’s talk about his work designing multi-functional origami systems that can be programmed. “You can imagine a piece of furniture that turns into a chair, folds into an umbrella, anything you want,” Demaine explains.
“When it comes out of the 3D printer, the robot is just a sheet made of a polymer called polyvinyl chloride, or PVC. The sheet is sandwiched between two rigid polyester films. Slits cut into the films affect how the PVC sheet will fold when it is heated,” writes UPI reporter Brooks Hays of new work with self-assembling robots.
New Scientist writer Aviva Rutkin reports that MIT researchers have developed a new process in which flat cut-outs are able to self-assemble into robots when heated. "What we would like is to provide design tools that allow people who are not experts to create their own machines," explains Prof. Daniela Rus.