Driving wider-spread adoption of robotics in manufacturing has been the ability to use these machines for multiple applications. Recently, researchers at UC Santa Barbara and Stanford University reinforced this benefit by adding expanding robotic functionality to include greater adaptability.
Their tubular robot has the ability to not only extend itself like vine, but control its growing direction based on what it senses externally. This would allow for use in tight-fit industrial spaces or applications ranging from medical applications such as clearing arterial blockages to tunneling through rubble for search and rescue operations.
The precise, predictable, and repeatable actions of robots can now be combined with a softer composition that allows for greater adaptability in changing shapes. It’s ability to “grow” also means it’s more customizable to the work space or environment.
While much research has been done on robot locomotion, from rolling to flying and even animal-inspired walking, a robot that elongates and extends is a fairly new challenge for mechanical engineers. The design of this particular soft robot was inspired by nature, specifically by trailing vines and fungal hyphae, and even by nerve cells, all of which grow from their tips.
These robots create their form via pneumatic pressure from within, similar to an inflating balloon, allowing for the transport of things inside it. However, unlike an inflating balloon, the pressure doesn’t cause expansion along the length of its body, but rather unfurls it at the tip, like a party blower. This dynamic allows them to slide more easily in constrained environments.
Whether a surgical application such as inserting a catheter, or for a larger scale search-and-rescue operation, the ability of the robot to thread its way through small openings expands upon its applications. The technology is still in its very early stages, but continues to make the robot more robust and functional under an array of circumstances.