Just like a fish out of water or a crab struggling to walk on sandy surface this robot with inflatable limbs with no supporting structure can walk wiggly on legs that function like flexible muscles of an octopus. Infact the main inspiration behind making this quadruped robot project called Locomotion with Continuum Limbs was the boneless body structure of octopus that can walk around and swim in deep waters only with the help of muscle power. Designed by Italian Institute of Technology and Kings College London the robot walks around with the help air-powered soft tentacles inside the hollow legs made from pipe structure. Just like an octopus it can have a very flexible tentacle curvature by altering the air pressure inside three air-filled tubes. Locomotion with Continuum Limbs project headed by Isuru S. Godage, Thrishantha Nanayakkara, and Darwin G. Caldwell was shown off at 2012 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems in Vilamoura, Portugal.
Compared to some other walking mechanisms for robots, the air-filled limbs are much more maneuverable and also act as good shock absorbers in case the robot has to traverse rough grounds. According to the researchers this kind of robotic movement will be adaptive for exploration on other planets like Mars, underwater missions or mine detection because the robot weighs very less due to lack of base structure.
Via: Spectrum
Comments
