It is a combination of the ancient art of paper folding and modern materials science. What’s the score? The new caterpillar robot for labyrinths. It bends and rotates very easily.
Soft robots can be difficult to guide. The steering gear often increases the rigidity of the robot and reduces its flexibility. The new design is from Princeton and North Carolina State universities. They made the steering system directly into the robot’s body, co-author Tuo Zhao said in a statement. He is a postdoctoral researcher at Princeton.
origami base
They created the robot from modular cylindrical segments. They work independently or join together to form a longer unit. Thus they contribute to the robot’s ability to move and steer. The new system allows the flexible robot to move forward and backward, pick up loads and form longer formations.
Zhao explained the robot’s ability to assemble and split on the move. It allows the system to operate as a single robot or as a swarm. «Each segment can be an individual unit. “They can communicate with each other and assemble on command,” she said. “They can be separated easily and we use magnets to connect them.”
They started from cylindrical segments that featured an origami shape called the Kresling pattern. It allows each segment to rotate into a flattened disc and expand again into a cylinder. This twisting and expanding motion is the basis of the robot’s ability to crawl and change direction. By partially folding a section of the cylinder, researchers can introduce a lateral curvature to a segment of the robot. By combining small curves, the robot changes direction as it moves forward.
Bending and folding
The most difficult was the mechanism to control the bending and folding movements used to drive and direct the robot. They used two materials that shrink or expand differently when heated. They combined them into thin strips along the folds of the Kresling pattern. Now researchers can precisely control folding and flexing to drive the robot’s movement and direction.
The current version of the new crawler maze robot has a limited speed. They are working to increase locomotion in later generations.