Georgia Tech researchers Revealed impressive achievements: A 5-inch long soft robot that can bounce to 10 feet (the height of the basketball hoop) without any legs. The design is inspired by inconspicuous nematodes, thinner than human hair than human hair, and it can jump many times.
By pinching its body into tight kinks, the worms store elastic energy and then suddenly release it, waving into the sky or backward like an acrobatic gymnast. The engineer imitated the motion. Their “SoftJM” robot is essentially a flexible silicon rod with a hard carbon fiber backbone. Depending on how it bends, it can jump forward or backwards – even if it doesn’t have wheels or legs.
In action, the nematode-inspired robot coils much like a squat-like person and then explosively does not bend. A high-speed camera shows how a worm bends its head and kneades in the middle of its body to jump backwards, then straightens and kneades on its tail to jump forwards.
The Georgia Tech team found that these tight bends (usually problems in hoses or cables) actually make worms and robots storage more energy. As one researcher pointed out, a kink straw or hose is useless, but the kink worm acts like a loaded spring. In the laboratory, soft robot Reappear This trick: It “pinches” the middle or tail, nervous, and then releases in the burst (about one tenth of a millisecond) to soar into the air.
Soft robots are on the rise
Soft robotics is a young but rapidly developing field that often takes clues from nature. Unlike rigid metal machines, soft robots are made of flexible materials that can be extruded, stretched and adapted to the surrounding environment. Early milestones in this field include Harvard’s eight – An autonomous robot made entirely of silicone and fluid channels, without rigid parts, inspired by octopus muscles. Since then, engineers have built a soft machine: from worm-like crawlers and jelly handshakes to wearable “Exo-Suits” and vine-like robots.
For example, Yale researchers created a turtle-inspired soft robot whose legs switch between a loose limb and a strong “land leg,” depending on whether it is swimming or walking. At UCSB, scientists have made a vine-like robot that uses only light-sensitive “skin” to grow towards the light – it actually extends through plant stems, such as plant stems. These and other biologically inspired innovations show how soft materials create new ways of movement.
Overall, proponents say soft robots can enter places that traditional robots cannot achieve. The National Science Foundation notes that adaptive soft machines “exploring spaces that were previously impossible to reach through traditional robots,” even inside the human body. Some soft robots have programmable “skin” that can change the stiffness or color to mix it or hold the object. Engineers are also exploring origami/kirigami technology, shape-memory polymers and other tips, so these robots can be reconfigured on the fly.
Engineering flexible movement
Making soft robots move like animals presents a huge challenge. Without hard joints or motors, designers must rely on material properties and clever geometry. For example, Georgia Tech’s jumper must include a carbon fiber spine within its rubber body to make the spring action strong enough. Integrating sensors and control systems is also tricky. As Penn State engineers pointed out, traditional electronics are stiff and can freeze soft robots into place.
To make their little crawling rescue robot “smart”, they had to carefully spread the flexible circuit throughout their body so that it could still be bent. Even finding energy is difficult: Some soft robots use external magnetic fields or pressurized air because carrying heavy batteries will push them down.
Georgia Tech’s nematode style soft robot (photo: Candler Hobbs)
Another obstacle is to exploit the right physics. The Nematode Robot Team learned that Kinks actually helps. In a regular rubber tube, the kink quickly stops flowing. But in soft worms, it slowly builds internal pressure, allowing more bending before release. By trying to simulate even a balloon model filled with water, the researchers showed that the flexible body when bending can hold a lot of elastic energy and then release it in a quick jump. The result is amazing: From a static state, the robot can jump 10 feet repeatedly by bending the curve of the spine. These Breakthroughs – Finding Ways Shop and release Energy in Rubber Materials – Typical soft robotic engineering.
Real-world funnel and helpers
What are the benefits of these soft robots? In principle, they can solve situations where rigid machines are too dangerous or embarrassing. For example, in disaster areas, soft robots can creep under rubble or under collapsed buildings to find survivors. Penn State shows a magnetically controlled soft track that can navigate tight debris and can even move through blood vessel-sized channels.
In medicine, microscopic soft robots can deliver drugs directly in the body. In a MIT study, a soft robot with thin threads that can float in arteries and clear clots, potentially handling stroke without open surgery. Harvard scientists are also studying soft wearable exoskeletons—a lightweight inflatable sleeve that helps ALS patients lift their shoulders and improve their range of motion immediately.
Space agencies are also paying attention to soft jumps. The wheels may get stuck in sand or rocks, but the leaping robot may be leaping on craters and dunes. NASA even imagines novel jumpers for the moon and the cold satellites. In one concept, a soccer-sized robot called Sparrow will use a steam jet (from cooked ice) to hop on Europa or Esseradez for miles. Under the low gravity of those satellites, a small step jump is a long way – scientists point out that a robot’s one-meter leap on Earth can carry it a hundred meters. The idea is that dozens of funnels can swarm in “complete freedom of travel.” Back on Earth, the soft jumper of the future can help with search and rescue missions by jumping over rivers, dirt or unstable ground, thus blocking traditional robots.
Soft robots also find jobs in industry and agriculture. The NSF notes that they can be security assistants on factory floors or on farms because if humans are present, they will fit. The researchers even built soft handshakes that could gently pick delicate fruit without bruising. The flexibility of soft machines means they can work in rigid devices that are too small or flexible.
Finally, experts believe that soft robotics has fundamentally changed many areas. From worms to wearable suits to moon funnels, this research thread shows how small organisms produce a large number of techniques.
