[ad_1] It just got a little easier to create soft robots that adapt to the world around them. Rice University researchers have developed a 3D printing technique (they call it “4D”) for material that automatically changes to an alternate shape when subjected to an electric current, changes in temperature or simple stress. The team produced […]
Category: soft robot
Soft robots can now run like cheetahs and swim like marlins
[ad_1] The LEAP spine (Leveraging Elastic instabilities for Amplified Performance), developed by Dr. Jie Yin, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at North Carolina State University, draws heavily on the cheetah’s natural flexibility. Normally, soft robots locomote across solid surfaces while keeping all four feet firmly on the ground. Unfortunately this severely limits their […]
Scientists can 3D print insect-like robots in minutes
[ad_1] It might soon be relatively trivial to make soft robots — at least, if you have a 3D printer handy. UC San Diego researchers have devised a way to 3D-print insect-like flexible robots cheaply, quickly and without using exotic equipment. The trick was to print “flexoskeletons,” or rigid materials 3D-printed on to flexible and […]
MIT’s thread-like robot can slip through blood vessels in your brain
[ad_1] The team described the “magnetically steerable, hydrogel-coated robotic thread” in a paper published in Science Robotics. The core of the thread is made from nickel-titanium alloy, which is both bendy and springy. It’s coated with a rubbery paste, or ink, which is embedded with magnetic particles. That’s then covered with a hydrogel, which makes […]
Harvard’s noodly robot fingers are great at grabbing jellyfish
[ad_1] Jellyfish are about 95 percent water, and the remaining five percent of their body is incredibly delicate. At the moment, most of the tools used to capture jellyfish in their natural habitat were developed for the marine oil and gas industries, and they often shred jellyfish to pieces when they attempt to capture them. […]
Simpler, air-powered soft robots could help with space exploration
[ad_1] Soft robots promise a kinder, gentler approach to automation, but they’re frequently hamstrung by complexity, costs and the need for wires. Thankfully, Harvard researchers have found a way to simplify matters. They’ve developed a softrobot driven by pressurized air that doesn’t need the multiple control systems that frequently guide these machines. A lone input […]
Self-healing 3D-printed gel has a future in robots and medicine
[ad_1] The 3D-printed hydrogel is a dual polymer that’s capable of bending, twisting or sticking together when treated with certain chemicals. One polymer has covalent bonds, which provide strength and structural integrity. The other polymer has ionic bonds, which allow more dynamic behaviors like bending and self-adhesion. Together, the polymers create a material that is […]