Biology, the study of life, can (and often does) breathe new life into engineering. In one recent example of the potential benefits of this sort of interdisciplinary collaboration, an international team of scientists is working toward the development of the "Cyberplasm," a tiny robot that is designed to mimic the sea lamprey, a creature found mainly in the Atlantic Ocean. It could one day be used to pinpoint diseases within the human body.
The team, which received funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council in the UK and the National Science Foundation in the U.S., is designing the Cyberplasm to include an electronic nervous system, "eye" and "nose" sensors derived from mammalian cells, and artificial muscles that use glucose as an energy source. The goal is to engineer and integrate robot components that respond to light and chemicals in the same way as biological systems. Once developed, the prototype will be less than 1 cm long. Future versions could be less than 1 mm long or even built on a nanoscale.
Cyberplasm's sensors are being developed to respond to external stimuli by converting them into electronic impulses that are sent to an electronic "brain" equipped with sophisticated microchips. The brain will then send electronic messages to artificial muscles telling them how to contract and relax, enabling the robot to navigate its way safely using an undulating motion. This research could hold implications for advanced prosthetics; for example, living muscle tissue might be engineered to contract and relax in response to stimulation from light waves or electronic signals.
