In the not so distant past, the public expected that robots were going to be clumsy, uncoordinated and prone to motion mishaps.
But now a team of scientists, led by Harvard’s George M. Whitesides have built a robot that achieves complex motion and has the kind of agility found in the animal world. They are even far more flexible than the modern rigid, metallic robots found in many current robotic applications.
The new highly-flexible robot can change its gait, and even crawl and squeeze under items, reports the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The robot is 5 inches long. It has four legs, each of which can be moved. The robot can crawl or slither, The AP said. It took the research team about two months to build the robot.
“Mechanical engineers routinely fashion mobile robots by using treads or wheels, which are operated with rigid metallic parts like rods, joints, bearings, and electric motors. But such robots are often heavy and expensive, execute a limited repertoire of movements, and have trouble navigating difficult terrain, according to the academy website. “To overcome such limitations, George M. Whitesides and colleagues built a flexible prototype robot with soft, elastic polymers that could be driven pneumatically with low-pressure air... Read More
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