Researchers at Yale University have given a soft robot the ability to detach and reattach pieces of itself, editing its body morphology when necessary. The robot uses asymmetrically stiff air chambers that inflate and deflate to generate a walking or crawling motion. The joints rely on a new material called a bicontinuous thermoplastic foam (BTF) to form a supportive structure for a sticky polymer that’s solid at room temperature but can be easily melted.
The BTF acts like a sponge to prevent the polymer from running out all over the place when it melts, and means that you can pull two BTF surfaces apart by melting the joint, and stick them together again by reversing the procedure. The process takes about 10 minutes and the resulting joint is quite strong. It’s also good for a couple of hundred detach/re-attach cycles before degrading. It even stands up to dirt and water reasonably well.
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