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New soft robots can navigate complex environments such as mazes without human input or computer software, new research shows.
“These soft robots demonstrate a concept called ‘physical intelligence’, which means that structural design and intelligent materials are what allow the soft robot to navigate various situations, unlike computational intelligence,” he says. Jie Yin, Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. at North Carolina State University and corresponding author of an article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Soft robots are made of liquid crystal elastomers in the shape of a twisted ribbon, resembling a translucent rattan. When you place the tape on a surface of at least 55 degrees Celsius (131 degrees Fahrenheit), which is hotter than ambient air, the part of the tape that touches the surface contracts, while the part of the tape exposed to the air does. no.
This induces a bearing movement on the belt. And the hotter the surface, the faster the wheel.
“This has been done before with smooth-sided bars, but this shape has one drawback: when it encounters an object, it simply rotates into place,” says Yin. “The soft robot we made in the form of a twisted tape is able to overcome these obstacles without any human or computer intervention.”
The tape robot does this in two ways. First, if one end of the tape encounters an object, the tape rotates slightly to avoid the obstacle. Second, if the center of the robot encounters an object, it “breaks.”
Closure is a rapid release of stored deformation energy that causes the tape to bounce slightly and reorient before landing. The tape may have to break more than once before finding an orientation to overcome the obstacle, but in the end it always finds a clear path forward.
“In that sense, it is very similar to the robotic vacuum cleaners that many people use in their homes,” says Yin. “Except the soft robot we created draws energy from its environment and works without any computer programming.”
“The two actions, spin and break, that allow the robot to negotiate obstacles work on a gradient,” says Yao Zhao, a postdoctoral researcher and first author of the article.
“The most powerful complement occurs if an object touches the center of the tape. But the tape will still break if an object touches the tape away from the center, it is less powerful. And the farther you are from the center, the less pronounced is the break. , until the last fifth of the tape length is reached, which does not produce any snaps “.
The researchers performed multiple experiments showing that the robot, which is as smooth as a tape, is capable of navigating a variety of maze-like environments. The researchers also showed that soft robots would work well in desert environments, proving that they were able to climb and descend slopes of loose sand.
“This is interesting and fun to watch, but more importantly, it provides new insights into how we can design soft robots that can take thermal energy from natural environments and autonomously negotiate complex, unstructured environments, such as roads. and hard deserts. ” says Yin.
Other co-authors are from Penn and NC State. The National Science Foundation supported the work.
Source: NC State
Original DOI study: 10.1073 / pnas.2200265119