Communications of the ACM
Soft Skin-Like Robots You Can Put in Your Pocket
University of Bristol researchers have developed stretchable skin-like robots.
Credit: Jianglong Guo et al.
Researchers at the University of Bristol in the U.K. have developed stretchable skin-like robots that can be rolled up and fit in a pocket.
The researchers relied on a new method of embedding artificial muscles and electrical adhesion into soft materials. This development could lead to thin and light robots for environmental monitoring and deployment in hazardous environments, robot grippers for delicate objects, and new wearable technologies.
The ElectroSkin robo can crawl across a surface by alternately contracting embedded artificial muscles and gripping the surface using electrical charges.
The device can be scrunched up, and then pulled out and thrown on a surface, where it will move.
Said University of Bristol researcher Jonathan Rossiter, "The combination of electrical artificial muscles and electrical gripping replicated the movements of animals like slugs and snails, and where they can go, so could our robots!"
From University of Bristol News (U.K.)
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Abstracts Copyright © 2019 SmithBucklin, Washington, DC, USA
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