As researchers look to the future of robotics, they’re searching for the best ways to make them as pliable, maneuverable and biological (ahem, human-like!) as possible. The newest field—soft robotics—is aiming to create a robot that doesn’t have hard components, such as batteries and circuit boards, and doesn’t have to be tethered to a nearby circuit system.
Scientists around the world are developing the best options, often using 3D printing technology to mimic animals such as snakes and octopi. In the U.S., robotics researchers at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are leading the way in soft robots, many times by funding through federal groups such as the National Science Foundation.
“One longstanding vision for the field of soft robotics has been to create robots that are entirely soft, but the struggle has always been in replacing rigid components like batteries and electronic controls with analogous soft systems and then putting it all together,” said Robert Wood, a Harvard engineering professor.
Wood and colleagues recently published about the first entirely soft robot in the journal Nature.
See images of the Harvard robot, as well as recent ones from MIT and the BioRobotics Institute in Italy.
Carolyn Crist is a freelance health and science journalist for regional and national publications. She writes the Escape Artist column for Paste Travel, On the Mind column for Paste Science and Stress Test column for Paste Health.
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This robot, dubbed the "octobot," is the world's first robot comprised entirely of soft materials. The octobot is pneumatic-based and powered by gas, transforming the liquid fuel (hydrogen peroxide) into gas that inflates the arms like balloons.
Lori K. Sanders, Michael Wehner and Ryan L. Truby/Harvard University
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Unlike traditional robots, this prototype, developed by researchers at Harvard University, does not need batteries or electronics to operate.
Lori K. Sanders, Michael Wehner and Ryan L. Truby/Harvard University
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The researchers 3D printed each piece of the robot body, including the fuel storage, power, and "engine." This could mean a new generation of sophisticated, entirely soft autonomous machines.
Lori K. Sanders, Michael Wehner and Ryan L. Truby/Harvard University
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Other researchers at the Wyss Institute at Harvard also wondered how to squeeze robots into tight spaces. They used 3D printing to fuse together materials and build a combustion-powered robot with a hard core and soft exterior.
Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University
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This new type of robot manufacturing allows researchers to build more durable robots that can maneuver awkward angles more easily and avoid getting crushed in small spaces.
Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University
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At MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL), researchers have developed robots to slither like snakes. It uses pressurized air to change shape like a ballon, allowing it to snake through an environment without a human controller.
Jason Dorfman, MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab
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Scientists in Italy are also interested in developing soft-body robots similar to an octopus, which they call the "ideal model" for soft robotics. The dexterity and anatomy of an octopus inspired their latest robot, which can be used as part of an endoscope during minimally-invasive surgery or underwater marine explorations.
Massimo Brega, BioRobotics Institute of SSSA in Italy