Multigait Soft Robot Inspired From Starfishes Is Developed By Harvard University Team

The soft robot, a work by a Harvard University team consisting of Professor George Whitesides, Robert Shepherd and their colleagues of the university, is said to be inspired from the squids and starfishes. It can crawl, move in smooth wavelike motion and move under obstacles. It overcomes the problems the normal metal robots face in facing obstacles by becoming flexible.



The principle here is to have soft lithography by the use of materials like elastomeric polymers to account for elasticity and the movement is provided by varying the pneumatic pressure inside small chambers within the elastomeric layer. The robot is quadrupedal with five actuators and pneumatic valving system. This system is designed to operate at low pressures less than 10psi.The robot has a series of small chambers under the elastomeric layer which can be inflated and deflated by adjusting the pneumatic pressure inside each of these chambers. This allows the robot to have a temporary structure and rigidity and also walk across felt cloth, gravel, mud, etc.

The video shows how the soft robot can slide under the glass plate with an opening of just 2cm by a series of organized movements taking less than a minute for the whole process. This establishes the fact that the soft robot is superior its metal counterparts in face of such tight spots.



It is also more resistant to damage when compared to the other types of robots. It can survive falling rocks, bumpy terrain, etc.  Just when one starts to think that this robot is invincible, the properties of the vulnerable elastomers show that they’re more susceptible from punctures and other harm from broken glasses or sharp objects, making it the only disadvantage of the soft robot.

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