Popcorn-Powered Robots? Get 'Em While They're Hot!

In an attempt to harness the power of pop, researchers went against the grain to push the boundaries of this staple starch

By Katherine J. Wu
smithsonian.com
August 6, 2018 1:36PM

Say the word “popcorn,” and you’ll likely think of a tasty theater treat. But these little kernels are capable of doing much more than just cutting the muted tension of a John Krasinski film. They contain a deployable reservoir of force. With the addition of heat, the process of popping unleashes a Pandora’s box of energy that, if harnessed, can be put to work.

Steven Ceron, a mechanical engineer at Cornell University (and, we assume, popcorn devotee), decided to do just that in series of experiments. In May, he presented the tantalizing findings at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation: popcorn-powered robots. Now, Ceron has written up his results in a paper—and it’s caused quite the robotics ruckus.

“My first reaction was to wonder if this was a very well-researched joke,” says Adi Azulay, a design developer at Microsoft who was not involved in the research. “But they did everything in there—and achieved everything they set out to do.”

It’s understandable how all this might get overblown. The phrase “popcorn-powered robots” evokes quite the image—but before your imagination runs wild with a B-movie plot detailing hyper-intelligent humanoids spewing fiery kernels into the streets of Manhattan, keep in mind that corn-fueled functionality is still in its infancy.

Read more: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/popcorn-powered-robots-get-em-while-theyre-hot-180969889/#V28BJKRLfgiOWCi7.99