The weekly newsletter for Fed2
by ibgames

EARTHDATE: December 11, 2011

Official News page 4


ROBOT ROUND-UP I: LIMBO-BOT

by Hazed

For some reason this week I have got a whole bunch of stories about robots. They must be like busses - you wait ages then five come along at once!

A team at Harvard University has come up with a soft robot that can squeeze itself under obstacles, limbo-dancer style. It's been inspired by squid and starfish and it can crawl and undulate, changing its shape to fit through tight spaces, and navigate difficult terrain.

This gives it a number of advantages over robots with rigid parts and solid wheels or treads, which have a limited repertoire of movements.

This pneumatically-driven robot is built using soft, flexible materials called "elastomers" and its motion is driven by compressed air. The elastomer layer contains a series of chambers that inflate like balloons to control its motion. This allows it to use different patterns of movement depending on the environment.

Watch a video of the limbo-bot in action here. It looks quite cute.


Fed2 Star index Previous issues Fed 2 home page