RoboticsSoft robots wiggle and worm in tight spaces
Researchers have demonstrated a unique class of locomotive robot: a soft robot, composed exclusively of soft materials, which is inspired by animals (for example, squid, starfish, worms) that do not have hard internal skeletons
Soft robot demonstrates teh ability to maneuver in tight spaces // Source: tgdaily.com
Harvard researchers have just published a paper which describes a unique class of locomotive robot: a soft robot, composed exclusively of soft materials (elastomeric polymers), which is inspired by animals (for example, squid, starfish, worms) that do not have hard internal skeletons.
Soft lithography was used to fabricate a pneumatically actuated robot capable of sophisticated locomotion (for example, fluid movement of limbs and multiple gaits).
This robot is quadrupedal; it uses no sensors, only five actuators, and a simple pneumatic valving system that operates at low pressures (< 10 psi). A combination of crawling and undulation gaits allowed this robot to navigate a difficult obstacle.
The researchers say that the demonstration illustrates an advantage of soft robotics: they are systems in which simple types of actuation produce complex motion.
— Read more in Robert F. Shepherd et al., “Multigait soft robot,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (28 November 2011) (doi: 10.1073/pnas.1116564108)
