A statement on the website of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) says Chinese physicists have recently made breakthrough findings in liquid metal that allow hard metal to become flexible as liquid metal, a step closer to building a shape-shifting liquid metal similar to the T-1000 Terminator in the science fiction film. (Photo: Global Times)

Scientists from China and Australia have made major progress in liquid metal robots, a prototype that resembles a robot in "The Terminator" sci-fi film franchise.
The scientists have designed a controlled actuation of gallium liquid metal, which makes wheeled robots driven by a liquid metal droplet come true.
The successful development of a self-powered wheeled robot driven by liquid metal can inspire a new method of fixing problems of traditional mechanisms, as well as promote the development of micro robots and special robots, according to a press release sent to Global Times by the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) on Tuesday.
Scientists combined the liquid mental driver with voltage to alter the robot's center of gravity and create a new liquid mental robot with a flexible structure and driving function, The robot was developed by the research teams of USTC, University of Wollongong in Australia and Suzhou University.
The joint research group has made progress on the functions of liquid metal droplets and applications to robot in recent years.
The group reported the development of a novel controllable untethered vehicle driven by electrically actuated liquid metal droplets in the journal IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics in September.  
China became the largest market for industrial robots in 2013. In 2017, sales of China's industrial robots hit $4.22 billion, up 24 percent year-on-year, while sales of service robots reached 1.32 billion dollars, up 28 percent, the Xinhua News Agency reported in May.