When many people think of robots, machinery with rigid components comes to mind. And, indeed, many pieces of robotic equipment do fit that description.
But, there’s been a transition with robots that are more flexible. This development could result in robots that are more user-friendly and versatile than ever.
Scientists Are Working on Better Robotic Muscles
Engineers are involved in ongoing efforts to improve the capabilities of artificial muscles inside robots. Then, it’d be possible to build robots with enhanced gripping abilities that can handle other biologically inspired tasks.
Eventually, people might have such robots in their homes to help with things like cooking or lifting items. Such benefits could be particularly beneficial for stroke patients or people with lifelong physical disabilities, for example. Currently available robotic arms that attach to wheelchairs are flexible enough to assist with grabbing a tissue or retrieving dropped items.
One development a Columbia Engineering team made possible in 2017 involves using a self-contained actuator to flex the muscle. Previously, it was necessary to use a separate compressor or high-voltage piece of equipment.
This new soft muscle can lift up to 100 times its weight, plus push, pull and twist. The researchers say that achievement is an artificial representation that’s the closest option to a real muscle.
A Flexible Robotic Motor
There are already some robots with soft and flexible components. But, they typically have rigid features too, since parts like motors are hard. Engineers at Rutgers University figured out how to make a wheel-and-axle assembly out of a silicone rubber that’s almost a million times softer than aluminum. They used 3-D printing and soft lithography to formulate the product.
The team notes a soft mechanical structure makes robotic vehicles more able to handle uneven terrain compared to completely rigid builds. The flexibility of an elastic material could provide natural shock absorption. Eventually, this technology may show up in robots that wander through disaster sites during search-and-rescue operations, helping human workers find survivors more efficiently.
Stanford Researchers Make a Robot That Can Grow
A Stanford University project resulted in a snake-like robot that can get longer or bend around obstacles, depending on the needs of the environment. So, if the robot has to go inside a small hole, operators could command it to extend and squeeze into the opening, thereby reaching places not readily accessible to humans.
Some flexible robots have components made from polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) tubing. PTFE is the most flexible kind of fluoropolymer tubing, and it has the lowest coefficient of friction. The latter quality makes it ideal for use with applications that require lubricating materials, which may apply to some robotics applications.
When designing their prototypes, the Stanford team used a tube made of inexpensive and thin plastic folded like an inside-out sock. Then, they applied air pressure to make the tube become everted and grow.
This method allows the use of pressurized liquid in place of air if the application warrants it. The scientists clarified the robot could also use water instead of air to extinguish fires or deliver water to trapped victims.
Giada Gerboni specializes in biomedical engineering at Stanford. She gave a TED Talk highlighting the growing robot, as well as other ways to use soft, flexible robots to help people. Recent advances are undoubtedly exciting and full of promise.
A Caterpillar-Inspired Robot for Drug Delivery
Scientists are always looking for ways to improve drug delivery for patients. One of the challenges associated with that goal, though, is that the human body features fluids like blood, mucus and other components that make technology unsuitable for the changing environment.
However, researchers from the City University of Hong Kong turned to nature to develop a robot they believe could improve methods of giving medications to patients. This gadget has hundreds of flexible, tiny legs. Lab tests showed multilegged robots encountered less friction than limbless robots, so the scientists turned their attention to land creatures with many legs, including caterpillars.
The flexible design allows the robot to clear obstacles 10 times higher than its leg length, and carry loads up to 100 times its weight. Within the next two to three years, the researchers hope to expand on this idea and make a biodegradable robot that naturally breaks down after providing the medication to a patient.
Improving Existing Prosthetic Hands to Help Amputees Experience Touch
When people lose limbs, they have to relearn how to do everyday tasks, plus cope with the loss of sensations. Many robotic arms let amputees grasp things again, but a prosthetic by engineers at the University of Utah incorporated touch into a robotic arm. They did so by integrating a user’s nervous system into the gadget, giving the person sensory feedback.
Other prosthetic devices can make advanced movements, but often require users to depend on their remaining muscles or making tilting motions with their feet to get results. This new prosthetic hand — nicknamed Luke after Luke Skywalker of Star Wars fame — operates via electrodes implanted into nerves in a person’s arm, as well as some of their muscles.
Carefully developed algorithms also send touch signals to the nervous system. The robotic arm is understandably complex, but the meticulous attention to detail paid off.
Keven Walgamott, who lost his hand and part of his arm in an electrical accident more than a decade ago, was the project’s first touch subject. Thanks to the technology, Walgamott could do things like feeling the ridges in a corrugated wall, picking up an egg without breaking it and holding his wife’s hand.
Flexible Robots Lead to Fantastic Opportunities
This overview shows how making robotic parts flexible could greatly increase their overall worthiness. As a result, people may soon see flexible robots used for things not seemingly possible outside the imagination.