DailyDirt: Rise Of Flexible Robots

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Mon, Aug 11th 2014 5:00pm — Michael Ho

Robot researchers often look to biology for inspiration because nature has evolved some pretty efficient means of locomotion and self-assembly. The idea of a robot that has a stiff metal body is being replaced by more lightweight, flexible and organic designs and materials. Robot parts made from various polymers could lead to some interesting biomimicry. Here are just a few examples.

Researchers have created a self-assembling robot that starts as a flat sheet of paper and plastic (and some not-so-flat electronics) and can walk around in under 5 minutes. The prototype cost about $100 in parts and uses some origami techniques to allow the bot to spring into action. [url]
Robot parts that can be 3D printed and incorporate self-assembling components could be the building blocks of re-configurable or self-replicating machines. Machines making machines? How perverse! [url]
Making robots out of elastomeric materials can result in flexible and extremely modular designs. Skynet is pretty far from making liquid-metal Terminators, and these T-1000 ancestors aren't too intimidating. [url]

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Filed Under: 3d printing, biomimicry, origami, robots, self-assembly, self-replicating

6 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 11 Aug 2014 @ 6:16pm

I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords...
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Aug 2014 @ 8:17am

" Robot parts that can be 3D printed and incorporate self-assembling components could be the building blocks of re-configurable or self-replicating machines. Machines making machines? How perverse!

Have these people never watched Stargate SG1?
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mischab1, 12 Aug 2014 @ 9:21am

That first robot is not self-assembling, it already has all of its parts. It just reconfigures itself from flat to 3-dimensional and walking. The only reason it is worth mentioning is that its body is made out of paper and polystyrene plastic.
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John Fenderson (profile), 12 Aug 2014 @ 9:25am

Re:
Huh? How is that not self-assembling?

"it already has all of its parts"

It's "self-assembling", not "self-manufacturing".
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Michael, 12 Aug 2014 @ 9:38am

Re: Re:
It looks less self-assembling and more self-folding. It transforms from a flat sheet into a walking robot - and it is pretty interesting, but it isn't a pile a pieces that assembles itself. I usually take assembly as pieces that aren't connected getting connected.
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John Fenderson (profile), 12 Aug 2014 @ 9:55am

Re: Re: Re:
Well, yes, this is an extremely low-tech form of self-assembling. However, the term "self-assembling" for what should more properly be called "self-reconfiguring" has a long history (in chemistry) that predates applying the notion to robotics. Using the term for this sort of machine is not technically incorrect, but it is undeniably chosen for its sex appeal in this case.
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