A translucent ‘limbo robot’ that can shimmy its soft body through small gaps and round corners could be more than just a Christmas gizmo.
The flexible bot could be sent to help people after earthquakes or car crashes, its fluidity enabling it to squeeze round corners and into tight gaps. It could also be deployed on battlefields, able to crawl over jelly, cloth and mud. Could robots be made to walk on water next?
Developed by Harvard scientists it is controlled by pumping air into its ‘limbs’, either manually or by a computer. It was inspired by starfish and squids which can change shape. There are still a lot of developments needed to be made though, as this bot still needs to be plugged in and doesn't move as fast as researchers had hoped.
Robotics researcher Carmel Majidi, who heads the Soft Machines Lab at Carnegie Mellon University said “It's a simple concept, but they're getting lifelike biological motions.”
