Previously, researchers were able to develop a soft robot that is capable of navigating through simple mazes without the intervention of humans or guidance from a computer. Now, they have built on this previous work and created a new brainless soft robot that could navigate through more dynamic and complex environments.
Brainless Soft Robot Relies on Physical Intelligence For Navigation
The earlier soft robot was capable of twisting and turning in order to navigate through simple obstacle courses. However, this soft robot could not turn unless an obstacle was present. Practically speaking, this meant that the bot could get stuck at time and would end up bounding back and forth between obstacles that were parallel.
Jie Yin, an associate professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering from North Carolina State University and a co-corresponding author of the study, explains that they were now able to create a new soft robot that can turn on its own and navigate through twisty mazes. The robot can even move forward amidst obstacles that are moving.
This was all made possible with physical intelligence rather than computer guidance. Physical intelligence involves dynamic things with behavior that is dictated by its structural design and materials. This is in contrast to being governed by a human or computer.
Asymmetrical Design
Similar to its predecessor, these robots consist of liquid crystal elastomers that are ribbon-like. When they are placed over surfaces that have a temperature of at least 55 degrees Celsius, a part of the ribbon that gets into contact with the surface ends up contracting, while the other portion that is exposed to the air does not. This leads to a rolling motion. With a warmer surface, the rolling gets faster.
However, unlike the earlier robot, this new one boasts of an asymmetrical design with two unique halves. One of the robot's halves has a twisted ribbon shape that stretches to a straight line. The other one has a more tightly twisted shape that also twists like a spiral-shaped staircase.
This design implies that one of the robot's ends exerts more force compared to the other. Because of this design, the object turns even without having to get into contact with a particular object. Yao Zhao, a postdoctoral researcher from the University and the study's first author, adds that while the robot changes its direction when it does get into direct contact with an object, it cannot end up stuck between different parallel objects. Rather than this, its capacity for arc-like movement enables it to freely wiggle along the path.
The researchers then tested the ability of the novel soft robot to move through complex mazes, which included moving walls. The soft robot also had to move through spaces that were thinner than its actual body size. Tests were performed on sandy and metallic surfaces.
Yin explains that this work is a step forward in innovative soft robot design development. More specifically, it particularly pertains to applications where such kinds of robots could take energy from their direct environment.
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