NASA Tech Briefs Insider BlogSoft-Bodied RobotsPosted April 17th, 2007 by adminNASA Tech Briefs INSIDER 04/17/2007
Prototypes look and move much like caterpillars. The BDL robots have a skin made of a silicone rubber, and wriggle forward via springs. As a current is passed through a spring, it contracts, bending the robot. For more information, click here. Sea-Creature SensorsPosted March 15th, 2007 by adminNASA Tech Briefs INSIDER 03/15/2007 Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have created a new class of gas sensors using a chemical process that converts the silica (silicon dioxide) found in the shells of diatoms into the semiconductor material silicon. Silicon is normally produced from silica at temperatures well above the silicon melting point (1,414 degrees Celsius), so that solid silicon replicas cannot be directly produced from silica structures with such conventional processing. The researchers used a reaction based on magnesium gas that converted the silica into a composite containing silicon (Si) and magnesium oxide (MgO). The conversion took place at only 650 degrees Celsius, which allowed preservation of the complex channels and hollow cylindrical shape of the diatom. Click here for the full story.  Dedicated to helping you design better products in a digital world... your guide to the latest tools & techniques for digital prototyping, simulation, and analysis of the real-world performance of your ideas.
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