Carnegie Mellon University researchers have developed soft robot that can transition seamlessly between different tasks such as walking, swimming, crawling and rolling without needing to reconfigure or make major adjustments. This is made possible by a bistable actuator which is simple, stable and durable. This breakthrough lays the foundation for future work on dynamic, reconfigurable soft robotics and is inspired by nature’s ability to quickly adapt to its environment.
This research team from Carnegie Mellon University has developed a bistable actuator made of 3D-printed soft rubber and shape-memory alloy springs that can be used to change the shape of robots. The actuator reacts to electrical currents by contracting, which causes the robot to bend and remain in its new shape until another electrical charge morphs it back to its previous configuration. This technology could be used to create robots that can transition from walking to swimming to crawling to jumping, just like animals, and could be a major breakthrough in bio-inspired and soft robotics.
This article discusses a robot created by a team of researchers at the University of Michigan led by Professor Carmel Majidi. The robot has four curved actuators attached to the corners of a cellphone-sized body made of two bistable actuators. On land, the curved actuators act as legs, allowing the robot to walk. In the water, the bistable actuators change the robot’s shape, putting the curved actuators in an ideal position to act as propellers so it can swim. This design is more efficient than having separate systems for each environment, as it reduces complexity and weight. The robot was created by Xiaonan Huang, an assistant professor of robotics at the University of Michigan and Majidi’s former Ph.D. student.
This team of engineers created two robots that can crawl and jump, and crawl and roll. The robots are powered by actuators that require only a hundred milliseconds of electrical charge to change their shape, and are incredibly durable. To demonstrate this, the team had a person ride a bicycle over one of the actuators multiple times and changed their robots’ shapes hundreds of times. This technology could be used in a variety of applications, from search and rescue to entertainment. The robots are a great example of how engineering can be used to create innovative and useful products.
Robots are becoming increasingly important in the field of rescue and environmental monitoring. In the future, robots could be used to interact with sea animals and coral, as well as to monitor environmental conditions. Heat-activated springs in the actuators could open up new possibilities in haptics, reconfigurable electronics, and communication. Robots could be used to detect changes in temperature, pressure, and other environmental factors, as well as to provide assistance in rescue situations. With the help of robots, we can better understand and protect our environment, as well as provide assistance in times of need.
