Manufacturers could soon be making use of conveyor belts that use thousands of micro-actuators to sort and move objects in the correct directions, much in the same way as cilia in the body.
According to the Engineer, scientists form the University of the West of England have already begun developing a concept along those lines, in which bulk handling systems could be made to mimic their natural counterparts.
Cilia are small hairs on the surface of cells found throughout the body that allow for various substances to be moved over them in coordinated waves.
They are, for example, responsible for moving mucus throughout the trachea and transporting eggs to the ovaries in female mammals.
The scientists, led by Professor Andy Adamatzky, have been given awarded a £360,000 grant to create a conveyor belt system that works in a similar way using low-power micro-actuators, the news provider reported.
He was quoted by the news provider as explaining that such technology would have commercial implications in a number of industries, particularly those dealing with mechanical components.
