Stanford University researchers
have developed a new kind of soft robot that, by borrowing features from
traditional robotics, is safe while still retaining the ability to move and
change shape. From that starting point, the researchers ended up with a
human-scale soft robot that can change its shape, allowing it to grab and
handle objects and roll in controllable directions. The simplest version of
this squishy robot is an inflated tube that runs through three small machines
that pinch it into a triangle shape. One machine holds the two ends of the tube
together; the other two drive along the tube, changing the overall shape of the
robot by moving its corners. The researchers call it an isoperimetric robot
because, although the shape changes dramatically, the total length of the edges
remains the same.
The isoperimetric robot is a
descendent of three types of robots: soft robots, truss robots and collective
robots. Soft robots are lightweight and compliant, truss robots have geometric
forms that can change shape and collective robots are small robots that work
together, making them particularly strong in the face of single-part failures. To
make a more complex version of the robot, the researchers simply attach several
triangles together. By coordinating the movements of the different motors, they
can cause the robot to perform different behaviors, such as picking up a ball
by engulfing it on three sides or altering the robot's center of mass to make
it roll. For now, the researchers are experimenting with different shapes for
their supple robot and considering plopping it in water to see if it can swim.
They are also exploring even more new soft robot types, each with their own
features and benefits.
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