This puking robot has a purpose: making rocket fuel safely


You won’t be surprised to hear it, but rocket fuel is dangerous stuff. It’s potent and volatile, meaning it can explode before it even gets into the rocket. That makes manufacturing it tricky, as you need to mix together certain materials, but fling them around too hard and they’ll start doing their job early. The solution? Well, scientists from Japan suggest puking robots.

In the video above (spotted by IEEE Spectrum) you can see prototype apparatus designed by engineers from Chuo University and Japan’s national aerospace agency (JAXA) to mix solid rocket fuel. It’s basically a series of connected segments of tube that compress back and forth like a worm. This motion mimics how our intestines and esophagus move food around our body — a...

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via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2uAaiPS"

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