Scientists Develop A Moving ‘Biohybrid’ Robot Using Sea Slug Muscles

A team of researchers from the Case Western Reserve University have reportedly developed a 'biohybrid' robot by combining sea slug tissues with flexible 3-D printed parts.

According to the scientists, the main reason behind choosing sea slug tissues for the biohybrid robot is that the sea slugs can survive in extremely tough situations and are adaptable to substantial changes in temperature and water salinity. It is expected that the resulting robots will also be able to operate in difficult situations, reported EurekaAlert.

The research team, led by PhD student Victoria Webster, used muscles from the California sea slug's mouth and connected the same with the flexible 3D-printed parts of the robot. They used an electrical current to stimulate the sea slug muscles thus helping the hybrid crawl to move. The 2-inch long biohybrid robot currently moves at a very slow speed of 4 mm per minute.

Lead researcher Victoria Webster said the team is developing a living machine, a biohybrid robot, which they want to be completely organic. She added that the team want the robots to be compliant and to interact with the environment, reported Phys.org.

The researchers are hoping that the biohybrid robots will be able to perform tasks that even an entirely man-made robot isn't capable of doing. The robots could be deployed to detect source of toxic leaks in a pond or perform search missions in the ocean for a plane's black box.

In future, the researchers are looking forward to incorporate more sea slug parts including the animal's own ganglia that would provide chemical or electrical signals to contract the muscles.

"With the ganglia, the muscle is capable of much more complex movement, compared to using a man-made control, and it's capable of learning," Webster said.

Webster and team will discuss about the biohybrid robot's material and construction process at the Living Machines conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, this week.