Imagine a robot that can detach its own limb to escape danger or team up with others to bridge a gap—Yale’s new soft robots are taking adaptability to a whole new level!
nanadwumor
- Researchers at Yale’s Faboratory developed a method for soft robots to mimic behaviors like limb detachment and self-repair.
- In one demo, a soft robot detaches a leg trapped by a rock, then can reattach it later.
- Another demo shows robots fusing together to bridge a gap that a single robot couldn’t cross.
- Using flexible, heat-responsive joints, this approach allows shape-shifting without rigid parts, potentially enabling more adaptable robots.
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Researchers at The Faboratory at Yale University have created a method that enables soft robots to mimic some of the more surprising behaviors observed in animals and insects, such as a reptile voluntarily severing a limb or ants forming temporary bridges by connecting their bodies.
In one demonstration video, a soft quadrupedal robot is seen crawling along when a falling rock pins one of its back legs. By applying heat through an electric current to the joint that connects the leg, the robot can detach it and free itself. While the video doesn’t display this, the limb is also capable of being reattached afterward.
In the second video, a single crawler robot is unable to cross the gap between tables, but three robots are able to fuse together (again, using joints that have been heated and softened by electric current) and then cross the gap as a single unit.
These capabilities aren’t entirely new to the world of robotics (especially modular robotics), but existing systems based on mechanical connections and magnets are inherently rigid, according to Spectrum IEEE. The innovation here lies in the joints, created using a material called a bicontinuous thermoplastic foam, along with a sticky polymer. This combination allows the joint to be melted and pulled apart, then stuck together again.
The roboticists detailed their research in a paper titled “Self-Amputating and Interfusing Machines,” which appeared in *Advanced Materials*. They propose that their methods could pave the way for “future robots that can undergo radical shape-shifting by altering their mass through processes like autotomy and interfusion.”
So, how does this compare in creepiness to a robot sporting a smiling face with living skin? That’s for you to decide!
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