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soft robots

11/01/2018 / By Edsel Cook

New fabrication process creates millimeter-sized soft robot that looks like a spider

Imagine a robot with a soft body that is shaped like a spider and is no bigger than a penny. That is what a Harvard-led team of researchers has produced using a new manufacturing method that can build millimeter-scale soft robots, an article in Science Daily stated. The researchers believe that soft robots wearing the […]

09/20/2018 / By Jhoanna Robinson

Soft robot developed by Harvard researchers uses kirigami paper craft techniques to move, inspired by snakeskin

Talk about life imitating art, or in this case, the other way around: Researchers from Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have taken inspiration from an ancient Japanese form of paper craft to make their latest technological wonder – a soft robot that moves just like a snake. The results of their […]

08/07/2018 / By Edsel Cook

Engineers introduce an actuating material that radically changes the concept of motor-driven robots

The robots of the future will change out their big, bulky actuators for something more in line with organic muscles. Chinese engineers have come up with actuating materials that can change their volume depending on the signal they receive, an article on Science Direct reported. Actuators are parts that control and move an object. For […]

07/28/2018 / By Edsel Cook

Researchers develop an artificial nervous system that gives robots the ability to sense touch

American and Korean researchers have given robots yet another sense once restricted to living organisms: the sense of touch. An article in Science Daily stated that the researchers developed artificial sensory nerves that work like the real thing. When attached to a cockroach’s leg, the artificial nerves can trigger the twitch reflex. The nerves are […]

07/17/2018 / By Edsel Cook

Next-gen devices could operate not on electricity or batteries but on LIGHT

A future generation of electronic devices could do away with the need for batteries or the local power grid by drawing energy from light. And by “light,” the joint research group working on these devices means all forms of light, not just sunlight, a Nano Werk article states. Such devices can dispense with the need […]

07/17/2018 / By RJ Jhonson

Scientists develop an artificial muscle from carbon fiber capable of lifting 12,600x its own weight

What makes a muscle able to carry over 12,000 times its own weight? Carbon fiber and silicone, according to research published in the journal Smart Materials and Structures. The artificial muscle, the creation of researchers from the University of Illinois, is made from siloxane rubber reinforced with carbon fiber. It is capable of supporting 12,600 […]

07/03/2018 / By Edsel Cook

Engineers develop a “soft robot” that uses responsive materials to swim through water

American researchers presented the very first swimming robots that do not need motors, servos, or a supply of power for propulsion. In a Science Daily article, the soft robots are made of responsive materials that change their shape whenever the temperature shifts. The regular deforming and reforming of their materials allow the robots to paddle […]

06/18/2018 / By Edsel Cook

Insects turned into “soft robots” as they have artificial devices embedded on their backs

As if actual robots were not eerie enough, Singapore-based researchers reported their recent success at transforming beetles into “soft robots.” A Soft Robotics article detailed their method of planting artificial feedback devices on the backs of the insects, allowing them to assume direct control over the animals’ flight. Theirs is the first study to report […]

06/12/2018 / By Edsel Cook

New foldable robotic arm that is self-locking was inspired by origami

You may have seen examples of origami artwork, which are made from colorful folded paper and are surprisingly strong. Korean researchers borrowed from that ancient art style to design a folding robotic arm that can assemble itself, according to a NanoWerk article. The robot arm relies on variable stiffness, where actuators can change their rigidity […]

05/07/2018 / By Edsel Cook

New robotic fingers inspired by the gecko now being developed

Anyone who’s seen a gecko knows how sticky their toes are. The newest robotic gripper devised by California-based researchers takes a cue from those clingy lizards. The soft robot can grasp a much wider variety of objects, including some that were too slippery for previous robot hands, according to a NewsWise article. Geckos can climb […]

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