Soft Robots Can Detect Damage and Self Heal in Few Minutes Thru Strechable Fiber Optic

Self-healing robots are a promising development in the field of robotics. These robots can detect and repair any damage they may experience while operating in remote environments, such as deep underwater or in outer space. This is made possible through the use of optical sensors and composite materials.

By combining these technologies, a team led by Rob Shepherd at Cornell Engineering has developed a soft robot that can detect when and where it has been damaged, and then repair itself on the spot. This ability allows the robot to continue functioning without the need for human intervention, making it ideal for use in remote environments where access may be limited.

"Autonomous Self-Healing Optical Sensors for Damage Intelligent Soft-Bodied Systems," their research, was reported in Science Advances on December 7th. Hedan Bai, a doctorate student, is the principal author.

Importance of Healing Properties

The ability to self-heal is an important step towards making robots more enduring and agile. By allowing robots to repair themselves, they can continue to operate even when they experience damage. However, for a robot to be able to self-heal, it must first be able to detect that there is something that needs to be repaired. This is where the use of optical sensors comes in, as described by the scientists.

By using these sensors, the robot can detect when and where it has been damaged, allowing it to initiate the healing process. This is a significant development in the field of robotics and could have many practical applications in the future. The self-healing robot developed by Shepherd and his team uses stretchable fiber-optic sensors to detect damage. These sensors work by sending light from a LED through an optical waveguide and using a photodiode to detect changes in the intensity of the beam.

This allows the robot to determine when and where it has been damaged. The researchers also combined the sensors with a polyurethane urea elastomer that incorporates hydrogen bonds for rapid healing, and disulfide exchanges for strength. This material, known as SHeaLDS (self-healing light guides for dynamic sensing), provides reliable dynamic sensing, is damage-resistant, and can self-heal from cuts at room temperature without any external intervention.

SHeaLDS Material

To test their technology, the researchers installed the SHeaLDS material in a soft robot that resembled a four-legged starfish. This robot was equipped with feedback control, allowing it to detect and self-heal from damage. When the researchers punctured one of the robot's legs six times, it was able to detect the damage and self-heal each cut in about a minute, which was derived from the technology used in Organic Robotics Lab.

The robot was also able to adapt its gait based on the damage it sensed. While the material is sturdy, it is not indestructible and is not able to heal from burns or damage from acid or heat. Shepherd plans to integrate the SHeaLDS material with machine learning algorithms that can recognize tactile events, to create a robot that has self-healing skin and can feel its environment. This would enable the robot to perform a wider range of tasks. Doctoral student Young Seong Kim also contributed to the research.

The research on self-healing robots was supported by several organizations, including the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the NASA Innovative and Advanced Concepts program, and the National Science Foundation EFRI program. The researchers also made use of various facilities at Cornell University, including the Cornell NanoScale Facility, the Cornell Center for Materials Research, and the Cornell Energy Systems Institute. These facilities are supported by the National Science Foundation and the MRSEC program.

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