Purdue-created GRAVI-BOT centrifuge system works in spaceflight microgravity and zero-gravity environments

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A researcher in Purdue University’s College of Agriculture and College of Engineering has created and validated a patent-pending free-flying robotic centrifuge system for research and process applications in crewed spaceflight.

The system is called GRAVI-BOT, or GRAvity-Variable Instrument for Biological and Operational Tasks.

A two-minute video that shows GRAVI-BOT being used and highlights its features is online.

D. Marshall Porterfield and his team have applied compressed gas thrusters to propel and drive constant rotational acceleration to provide torque to the centrifuge’s central rotational axis. Porterfield is a professor in the departments of agricultural and biological engineering and horticulture and landscape architecture.

“The system has applications providing important gravitational controls for biomedical and biotechnology research,” he said. “It also has applications for any material or fluid mass separations requiring mechanical centrifugation in spaceflight microgravity and zero-gravity environments.”

The system includes positioning sensors that allow users to adjust the thrusters to position the centrifuge to designated locations.

“Our low-mass centrifuge system lacks a motor, a rotor and stators for electromagnetic rotation,” Porterfield said. “Instead, it utilizes a small onboard air compressor feeding the PET (polyethylene terephthalate) compressed air tank. The system also is portable, foldable and inflatable.”

Porterfield and his team have validated the system and disclosed it to the Purdue Innovates Office of Technology Commercialization, which has applied for a patent to protect the intellectual property. Industry partners interested in developing or commercializing this system should contact Dipak Narula, lead technology development liaison and assistant director of business development and licensing — physical sciences, at dnarula@prf.org about track code 69696.

About Purdue Innovates Office of Technology Commercialization

The Purdue Innovates Office of Technology Commercialization operates one of the most comprehensive technology transfer programs among leading research universities in the U.S. Services provided by this office support the economic development initiatives of Purdue University and benefit the university’s academic activities through commercializing, licensing and protecting Purdue intellectual property. In fiscal year 2024, the office reported 145 deals finalized with 224 technologies signed, 466 invention disclosures received, and 290 U.S. and international patents received. The office is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University. Contact otcip@prf.org for more information.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a public research university leading with excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities in the United States, Purdue discovers, disseminates and deploys knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 107,000 students study at Purdue across multiple campuses, locations and modalities, including more than 58,000 at our main campus in West Lafayette and Indianapolis. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 13 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap — including its comprehensive urban expansion, the Mitch Daniels School of Business, Purdue Computes and the One Health initiative — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.