The Host: Hello everyone, this is your favourite Michael O'Leary on our weekly radio show on science. Today, please welcome Dr Lera Filmore from the Institute of Engineering Science, who’s agreed to talk to us about robots and nanotechnology. Hello, Dr Filmore, thank you for accepting our school’s invitation.
Dr: Hello everyone, thank you for inviting me, I’m very excited to be here with you today.
H: Dr Filmore,, I must admit I’ve always thought of robots as these humanoid machines that will take over my household chores! [laughs]
Dr: Haha, that’d be great, wouldn’t it?
H: Oh yes, I can’t tell you my mum and dad are happy with how I tidy up! [laughs]
Dr: Well, I have to disappoint you a little. The robot you’d like to have is Rosey from the Jetsons and it only exists in the cartoon!
H: Oh yes, I’ve heard about it. But there are also R2D2 and C3PO from Star Wars, couldn’t they tidy up my room?
Dr: Haha, yes and no. I haven’t heard about a universal robot that could do all the chores at home, but I’ve certainly heard about robot waiters in restaurants and robotic vacuum cleaners, for example.
H: Robotic vacuum cleaners? Ah yes! We have one at home. My mum has a robotic lawnmower at work which is pretty similar to that vacuum cleaner, but it mows the lawn. Pretty effective!
Dr: Oh yes, when I was visiting Sweden, I could see them on every lawn. Though still not close to the robots I’m working on.
H: So, what are you working on, then?
Dr: Shape‑shifters.
H: Can they change their physical state?
Dr: Well, it’s a long way from what we’re researching to the end result. But we are working on a robot that could transform itself when needed. Imagine for example that you finally decided to get down to washing the dishes.
H: That wouldn’t sound nice…
Dr: Haha, well, you are washing a plate, but it gets slippery, you drop it to the floor and it smashes into pieces!
H: That sounds even worse! Mum would be mad…
Dr: Your plate that is lying in pieces on the floor gets back to its original shape!
H: Whoa! That’d be awesome! Also, mum would be happy, haha. So, can you design that??
Dr: Well, it’s still a long way, but we’re working on it. You see, in this case, the plate would be made of thousands of tiny little molecules – balls, so to speak, that could reconfigure their positions.
H: So, the plate would first smash into pieces, and then go back to its original shape?
Dr: Exactly! The molecules would actually be little robots working together. So you see, I may not be working on another R2D2 from Star Wars, but still on something that may be helpful in your cleaning! A robot plate made of microscopic robots. And the science behind it is called “nanotechnology”. Technology that works with tiny little molecules.
H: That is fascinating, Dr Filmore! Thank you very much for coming to the studio, and good luck with your research!
