With this question, Global Times reporter interviewed Liu Jing, the person in charge of the project and a researcher at the Institute of Physical and Chemical Technology of Chinese Academy of Sciences. Liu Jing said that flexible machines and deformable machines are very important fields in material science and machine science, and flexibility is the unique behavior of liquid metal. A year or two ago, the research group found that electricity can control the deformation and movement of liquid metal, which is "electric drive", but now it has realized "self-drive" in this technology. Another interesting thing is that the "liquid metal machine" will stop when it meets a corner in motion, as if it were going to move on after a little thinking; Encounter a gap smaller than the "body" and even "squeeze through". Therefore, autonomous driving, flexibility and variability are the three characteristics of this technology.
Liu Jing said that scientists had previously discovered the "electric drive" phenomenon of the "liquid metal robot", that is, the electric charge will change the surface tension of the liquid metal and form a rotation inside, so controlling the movement of the electric charge can drive the "liquid metal robot" forward like a wheel. The latest research found that "liquid metal robot" will "swallow" aluminum sheet as "fuel" to generate electric charge. He explained that at first, the "liquid metal machine" had no external power. After "swallowing" the aluminum sheet (which can also be understood as corrosion), a galvanic reaction is formed in the electrolyte and it can move by itself. If there are still some aluminum pieces on the movement route, the "liquid metal robot" can "swallow" them on the way. Its moving speed is not slow, it can reach 5 cm per second, and the moving distance is quite far, and it can walk in the container for more than an hour.