ITHACA, N.Y. – Engineers have created a shape-changing "soft" robot that can tread over a variety of adverse environmental conditions including snow, puddles of water, flames, and the crushing force of being run over by an automobile.
Videos: https://cornell.box.com/softrobot
The engineers from Cornell and Harvard Universities will detail the robot in an upcoming edition of the journal Soft Robotics . An early online version of the study can be found at: http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/soro.2014.0008
The pneumatically powered, fully untethered robot was enabled by the careful selection of materials and composites, including silicone elastomer. It can carry its own weight and the authors say the robot demonstrates surprising resilience with implications for search and rescue missions.
Soft Robotics