Harvard engineers have developed a technology for creating soft robots that can safely penetrate into hard-to-reach environments (for example, inside a human body or in spaces that are too dangerous for humans or not accessible to hard robots).
A team of researchers from Harvard University has developed a comprehensive manufacturing process that allows the development of soft robots the size of a centimeter with micrometric characteristics. To demonstrate the possibilities of their new technology, scientists have made a robotic soft spider, inspired by the Australian peacock spider.
The team used the MORPH (Microfluidic Origami for Reconfigurable Pneumatic / Hydraulic) technology to create 12 layers of elastic silicone that together form the basis of soft spider material. Each layer is cut from the template by laser micromachining, and then everything is combined into a three-dimensional structure of a soft spider. The key to the transformation of this intermediate structure into a finished structure is a network of hollow microfluidic channels, which is integrated into each separate layer. The technology of the tubular network works in such a way that both individual layers and those connected to them locally bend into the final configuration, which is fixed in space when the material solidifies. Thus, the round belly of the soft spider and the downward bends of his legs become permanent.
According to the developers, MORPH can open a new field of soft robotics for researchers, which will be oriented to medicine. The size and flexibility of these robots will be a godsend for endoscopy and microsurgery.
