Technology: SAW Robot Moves On Its Own Like A Worm And Can Be Shrunk Down For Use As A Medical Device (Video)

March 29, 2017

Came across this on the Interwebs. A robot that ‘moves like a worm’ that could be ‘shrunk and sent into your intestine’ sounds like a good idea… but ONLY by comparison.

(Yeah, compared to camera jammed on the end of a tube being pushed up your rectum for that colonscopy.)

So, um, lets focus on the tech and other applications for the 3D-printed SAW (Single Actuator Wave-like) robot that swims, crawls and climbs.

Intelligent motion, ease of manufacturability, design for scalability… HUGE selling points for any tech. Think about how way less cool a Roomba would be if we had to keep checking on it and repositioning it to finish the vacuuming, or if it was really hard or expensive to make. Imagine if there is some ‘much bigger’ Roomba cleaning huge warehouse floors somewhere. And that’s scaling it to big. What about scaling smaller? Wouldn’t fields involving exploration of hard-to-reach, hard-to-negotiate areas find shrunk down versions of this tech VERY useful?

(Wait. Are we talking about robo-worming our guts again??? Maaan PAUSE! PAAAAUSE!)

Enjoy the expo above.

MORE: 3D-PRINTED ROBOT THAT MOVES LIKE A WORM (MIRROR ONLINE)