When we think of robots, we think of metal machines, cold and inhuman; even the most
advanced are usually pictured as somewhat alien compared to us.
But could there yet be something even more unknown and unsettling?
Especially in a new engineering field, in which robots take on shapes and functions
we never thought possible before – including in human medicine.
This is Unveiled, and today we’re taking a closer look at the strange world of soft
robotics, and discovering how they really could soon be inside you.
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Soft robotics is pretty much as it sounds: robots made of soft, flexible, malleable materials.
These machines lack the rigid bodies and components we typically associate with robots; even the
electronics inside are much more pliable.
They’re certainly bizarre, but are also being developed by research institutions the
world over.
This is a very new field, largely because it requires cutting-edge manufacturing methods
to actually build the soft machines, and such techniques didn’t exist until quite recently.
For example, many are made using 3D printing, something that – while generally commonplace
now – still felt like science fiction not so long ago.
While 3D printers themselves are still extremely expensive, it’s NOT expensive to send designs
off to specialist companies and have THEM 3D print things for you.
And, although it actually isn’t the only way to make soft robots, it is a vital tool…
not least because these things require a very delicate touch to design and build.
But what’s the real inspiration behind something that’s so immediately weird to behold?
As with many things, the idea for soft robots comes from the animal kingdom.
And particularly soft-bodied creatures like cephalopods.
Octopuses, for instance, don’t have any bones in their bodies, instead relying on
alternate structures and the pressure of the ocean around them to keep their bodies strong
and stiff when needed.
It’s how they can maneuver in such fascinating ways and compress their bodies to become so
small – leading to their reputation as escape artists in aquariums.
Octopuses are also extremely mobile, intelligent, and dexterous; some have even been seen using
tools, which is something only the smartest creatures like primates and some birds are
otherwise capable of.
But octopuses can do it all while also remaining so soft… which got scientists thinking:
could we replicate the way such animals move, in robot form?
So far, the answer seems to be, yes, we CAN do that.
However, novel designs are one thing, but what are they actually for?
What are the applications of a robot that works like an octopus, and - to get back to
today’s title - how might it someday make its way into the human body?
Well, to stick with the ocean first of all, one initial application is for ocean research.
Researchers could, for example, use soft robots that work like squids and octopuses as a new
breed of ultra-flexible and durable submersible.
Such a machine might also be less likely to raise the suspicions of other ocean dwellers,
potentially making it perfect for capturing them on film.
On the other side of the coin, there could be some problems with a robot like an octopus
- such as with the complexity of an octopus brain.
An octopus has one primary, central brain, and then eight additional brains – one for
each arm.
So, one human trying to control a robotic octopus might then have to manipulate it in
eight different ways at once.
Like a video game, but with eight joysticks instead of just one or two – and so, possibly
impossible for a human to actually use.
And potentially a job for AI, above all.
Beyond the ocean, NASA is also reportedly interested in developing would-be creatures
such as this, with a growing drive for soft robotics in the Agency.
It’s certainly clear how they could be put to work.
What if, say, we could build a squid-like soft robot and send it away to Jupiter’s
moon Europa?
It could potentially swim through the subsurface ocean far more efficiently than with other
types of remote vehicles?
This generation’s rover missions have certainly been valuable, but with soft robots in the
future we could be exploring distant worlds much more dynamically.
And initial research has already been conducted by scientists using grants from NASA itself.
There’s more yet, though.
And here, specifically, is how they could soon be inside you.
Such robots have potentially far-reaching medical applications.
It’s predicted that one of the biggest uses for these flexible tools will be in surgery.
We know the human body is a very complicated place… so, if we had tools able to squeeze
into tight spaces, around bends, and generally shape-shift at will, then that would be a
boon for surgeons.
In theory, a soft robot could do this; thoroughly and continually transforming its shape to
perform a variety of procedures.
From the patient’s point of view, though, it would very much be like having a tiny,
octopus surgeon getting to work inside your body.
How does that sound to you?
Is there reason to be squeamish?
To worry?
Or, actually, just to be impressed and blown away by what could soon be possible?
For one thing, and as unpleasant as it perhaps sounds, soft robotic procedures may well reduce
the need for large incisions.
They might end up making operations faster and simpler, which could also reduce many
of the other inherent risks of surgery that patients face.
Smaller incisions are always going to be better, lowering infection and complication risks,
and soft robots may be a way to accomplish that.
Elsewhere, a less invasive medical application could be to use soft robotics in exoskeletons.
Exosuits can give people with disabilities more independence, and potentially even allow
those who use wheelchairs to walk again with robotic assistance.
But there’s a problem: current exoskeleton designs are generally bulky and cumbersome
– so much so that they can actually cause injuries, like bruising.
Soft robotics exoskeletons, however, have already been built - and they’re lighter
and better able to replicate the way the human body moves.
Perhaps in the next few decades we’ll start to see them fully utilized to improve the
lives of people who have lost their mobility.
Finally, in a medical sense, the technology can also be used to create artificial muscles.
And again, there could be wide-ranging uses.
Perhaps, for instance, this is one step closer to us building things like prosthetic limbs
that move and respond exactly like real ones.
Or, it could even take us to one of the holy grails of medical invention: an artificial
heart that can function for extended periods of time.
Such a device would enable heart transplants without the need for a donor.
And, suffice it to say, this would be truly revolutionary, and something that scientists
have been trying to achieve for a long time.
The field of soft robotics is really all about making robots more natural, animal- and human-like
in terms of design.
In some cases, we do already use it in manufacturing, because the softness allows robotic hands
and appendages to grip things… which, for instance, is useful on food production lines,
where you don’t want food products to get squashed by a huge, traditionally bulky robot
arm.
There are plenty more directions for the technology to head down, too.
For example, soft-robotics has been theorized as a way to give machines human-like skin,
capable of transmitting sensory information about touch.
Consider how sensitive human skin is to even the smallest things - like temperature, wind,
and even the gentlest of movements.
Some want to build robots that can perceive the environment in just the same way.
One darker realization here is that soft robotics could also be a way to make robots that can
feel pain.
Practically speaking, it would actually be a positive if an advanced machine were able
to understand if it were doing something wrong that might break it… but it does open up
the door to robot torture, too.
Or, of course, all of this is a possible route towards someday building true, synthetic,
intelligent humans… an overriding, unsettling and ongoing point of debate.
Finally, though, there is another potential but very creepy way that this kind of tech
could be used: surveillance.
It’s argued by some that the technology that makes such genuinely lifelike robots
could make them SO lifelike that they’re easily able to spy on people.
At the most extreme, could soft robots eventually be indistinguishable from real animals, and
thereby able to get close to people without raising an alarm - much like the robot octopuses
in amongst ocean wildlife.
Incredibly, this is perhaps still less bizarre than some of the ways government agents have
tried to use animals to spy in the past.
There was, after all, once one notorious CIA plot to install listening devices into living
cats, dubbed operation “Acoustic Kitty”.
Elsewhere, there’s the modern conspiracy theory, known as ‘Birds Aren't Real’,
alleging that birds are robot spies already; although that one is predominantly satirical
in nature, and mostly meant as a way of poking fun at other conspiracy theories.
Nevertheless, how worried are you about soft robotics?
Or are you actually entirely unconcerned?
Do you think they’ll do more harm than good?
Or will they become a vital and positive tool for the future?
Let us know in the comments!
For now, this is an exciting area of science, one that could revolutionize everything from
medicine to space exploration…
but there are some more questionable implications, as well.
And that’s how soft robotics really could soon be inside you.
What do you think?
Is there anything we missed?
Let us know in the comments, check out these other clips from Unveiled, and make sure you
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