It's tricky to routinely inspect jet engines and other machines without taking them apart, which is a costly and time-consuming process. Now, a team at Harvard's Wyss Institute has developed small, insect-like robots that can climb inside and through machines to inspect them, saving the trouble of pulling them apart if there's nothing that needs fixing.
The robots are based on the team's previous creation, which they call the Harvard Ambulatory Micro-Robot (HAMR). These small, four-legged robots scurry around like insects, and a more recent version gained the ability to walk across the surface of water.
The latest model has been named HAMR-E, where the E stands for Electro-adhesion. To climb vertical surfaces and cling upside down, the robots have new footpads that stick to the metallic surfaces through electrostatic forces. The pads are made of a polyimide-insulated copper electrode, and the robots can switch the electric field off to lift each foot off the surface, before turning it back on when it takes the next step. These pads are also flexible, so as to let the bots climb curved surfaces – a handy skill, inside a jet engine.
(Score: 1) by ensigndna on Saturday December 22 2018, @03:40PM (3 children)
Hopefully they make them out of something relatively soft and weak so that when one is inevitably lost or forgotten inside an engine it just disintegrates and doesn't damage it......
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Immerman on Saturday December 22 2018, @04:06PM (2 children)
There's a reason aircraft inspection and maintenance is (supposed to be) checklist driven - you know exactly what was done, don't miss any important steps, and know and exactly where all your tools are when you're done.
The strategy has been recommended repeatedly over the years for surgery, where missed steps and tools forgotten in the patient can cause all sorts of serious complications. Last I heard there hadn't been any takers yet, and such complications remain far more common than in aircraft maintenance.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Sunday December 23 2018, @10:04AM (1 child)
One can barcode surgical implements but one cannot barcode stupid
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Sunday December 23 2018, @11:16PM
Which is why you checklist - the job isn't done until every tool used is accounted for.