A team of researchers at Harvard University has created the very first entirely autonomous soft robot, called Octobot.
According to Tech News Observer, a research team from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) with a specific expertise in microfluidics, mechanical engineering and 3D printing has showed that soft robotics may have a great future. The research has been led by the Hansjorg Wyss Professor of Biology Inspired Engineering, Jennifer A. Lewis, and the Charles River Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Robert Wood.
A few members of the Wyss Institute for Biologically inspired Engineering at Harvard University participated in the research. By creating its own very first autonomous soft robot, the research team try to demonstrate that soft robotics could have a dramatic impact that might revolutionize the way that machines and humans interact. The study has been published on the Harvard University's website.
Experts from the fields of microfluidics, mechanical engineering and 3D printing have reunited in the research team in order to design and build the impressive machine. The team behind the Octobot autonomous soft robot inspirited its design from octupuses.
According to The Daily Dot, the Octobot contains no rigid components usually required of the control and electric power systems. The device does not depends on an off-board system like most of other soft robots built so far.
The functional components required to power the robot, including the power source and the fuel storage are fitted inside the soft body exterior. In building the Octobot, the research team at Harvard has used a combination of molding, 3D printing and soft lithography.
The pneumatic-based machine that allows Octobot to move is powered by chemical reactions taking place inside the bot. The liquid fuel used is a small amount of hydrogen peroxide that is turned into gas. The gas expands into the robot's arms in order to inflate and move them.
