Self-assembling micro-robots created, Judgment Day looms
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Self-assembling micro-robots created, Judgment Day looms
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Re: Self-assembling micro-robots created, Judgment Day looms
#2Doesn't sound like self-assembly to me - isn't that simply some magnetic particles sticking to a magnet (or as close to the magnet as possible)? Too bad the videos don't show the magnets involved.
Re: Self-assembling micro-robots created, Judgment Day looms
#3"In the short term, these micro-robots could be used to deliver cancer drugs (or any kind of medication) in a highly-targeted fashion, rather than the carpet bombing approach that is currently used"
You can almost always find the cancer therapy tie-in with these kinds of things. In this case "near term" would be 15-20 years at best. Getting stuff inside of cells without the immune system going caveman on your nanobot along the way is a hard problem.
Re: Self-assembling micro-robots created, Judgment Day looms
#4"In the short term, these micro-robots could be used to deliver cancer drugs (or any kind of medication) in a highly-targeted fashion, rather than the carpet bombing approach that is currently used" You can almost always find the cancer therapy tie-in with these kinds of things. In this case "near term" would be 15-20 years at best. Getting stuff inside of cells without the immune system going caveman on your nanobot…
Inside cells? That certainly is way off - but things like getting chemotherapy drugs mostly to the organ or body part that is cancerous should be much easier.
Re: Self-assembling micro-robots created, Judgment Day looms
#5"In the short term, these micro-robots could be used to deliver cancer drugs (or any kind of medication) in a highly-targeted fashion, rather than the carpet bombing approach that is currently used" You can almost always find the cancer therapy tie-in with these kinds of things. In this case "near term" would be 15-20 years at best. Getting stuff inside of cells without the immune system going caveman on your nanobot…
Inside cells? That certainly is way off - but things like getting chemotherapy drugs mostly to the organ or body part that is cancerous should be much easier.
Yeah, similar tech was demonstrated earlier this year I think -- little balls that carried anti-cancer drugs to tumors in mice. I think they were controlled with magnets.
Re: Self-assembling micro-robots created, Judgment Day looms
#6Doesn't sound like self-assembly to me - isn't that simply some magnetic particles sticking to a magnet (or as close to the magnet as possible)? Too bad the videos don't show the magnets involved.
@Tichy That is correct, this doesn't seem to be the most
advanced form of Self-assembly but it could be an important
step towards making a system that, as a whole, is capable of
Self-Reconfiguration (Self-assembly=>Self-Disassemble=>
Self-assembly in to something new)
Imagine a large number of basic building blocks, and a smaller numbers of of assemblers capable of moving the blocks around.
The individual units would not be capable of Self-Reconfiguration but the system as a whole would be. It could transform it self from one state to another state by using the assemblers to move the building blocks around.
To make the units capable of reconfiguration on their own or to build a system that is capable of reconfiguration is a fundamental question in the research field of Self-reconfiguring modular robotics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-reconfiguring_modular_robo...) that I find absolutely amazing and that are making great progress in research and where we are even starting to see some commercial products beginning to appear.
Re: Self-assembling micro-robots created, Judgment Day looms
#7Doesn't sound like self-assembly to me - isn't that simply some magnetic particles sticking to a magnet (or as close to the magnet as possible)? Too bad the videos don't show the magnets involved.
@Tichy That is correct, this doesn't seem to be the most advanced form of Self-assembly but it could be an important step towards making a system that, as a whole, is capable of Self-Reconfiguration (Self-assembly=>Self-Disassemble=> Self-assembly in to something new) Imagine a large number of basic building blocks, and a smaller numbers of of assemblers capable of moving the blocks around. The individual units would…
It looks like a neat technique, it just doesn't feel very self-assembly or even robotic to me. Maybe there is just not enough information in the article about what is really going on. Like what happens when one of the things turns into an "U" to wrap the item to move. Is there a magnet shaped like an U in the background? Or something more clever?
Re: Self-assembling micro-robots created, Judgment Day looms
#8Doesn't sound like self-assembly to me - isn't that simply some magnetic particles sticking to a magnet (or as close to the magnet as possible)? Too bad the videos don't show the magnets involved.
Then, what is self-assembly to you?
Re: Self-assembling micro-robots created, Judgment Day looms
#9Doesn't sound like self-assembly to me - isn't that simply some magnetic particles sticking to a magnet (or as close to the magnet as possible)? Too bad the videos don't show the magnets involved.
Then, what is self-assembly to you?
We were expecting robots that could assemble copies of themselves, not just robots that could only assemble themselves.
Re: Self-assembling micro-robots created, Judgment Day looms
#10Doesn't sound like self-assembly to me - isn't that simply some magnetic particles sticking to a magnet (or as close to the magnet as possible)? Too bad the videos don't show the magnets involved.
Then, what is self-assembly to you?
The "robots" would have to bring their own magnets - they should be able to assemble themselves without outside control.