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Soft Robotics: Robots that can Weather the Elements
Robots are going soft. Soft Robots, or ‘bio-inspired robots‘, aren’t made out of the stiff components of traditional robots. They’re able to bend and contort themselves so as to move into spaces much more easily, and because there are no hard and sharp edges, they’re less likely to cause injuries to people or objects that they may come into contact with.
Vytas SunSpiral, researcher at NASA Ames Research Center, said that “Rigid systems are fragile, and most of the robots built to date can only work in very limited and controlled conditions.”
Gerald Van Hoy, an analyst at market research firm Gartner, said that “soft robotics has the potential to influence all kinds of robotic and machine design. It’s a key development in the evolution of robotics.”
Michael Tolley, a research associate in materials science and mechanical engineering at the Wyss Institute, said that “One of the things that limit our imagination is that factory robots are very large and scary and dangerous to be around. As a lay person, you can’t just walk into a factory where industrial robots are working. But a soft system is inherently less dangerous, so you can start to interact with it more, and I think that opens up many more opportunities.”
Research on soft robots combines ideas from organic chemistry, soft materials science and traditional robotics. Recently researchers at Harvard have created a resilient and untethered robot that can weather the elements.
