CHANNELS

Aerospace

Automotive

Automated & Autonomous Vehicles

Battery & Electrification Technology

Defense

Drone TV

Electronics

Manufacturing & Prototyping

Materials

Medical

Motion Control

RF & Microwave Technology

Robotics & Automation

Sensors & IoT

Test & Measurement

Aerospace
Automotive
Automated & Autonomous Vehicles
Battery & Electrification Technology
Defense
Drone TV
Electronics
Manufacturing & Prototyping
Materials
Medical
Motion Control
RF & Microwave Technology
Robotics & Automation
Sensors & IoT
Test & Measurement
Aerospace & Defense
Search Results

Mesh Robot Crawls Like an Earthworm

Researchers at MIT, Harvard, and Seoul National University have created a soft autonomous robot that moves via peristalsis, crawling across surfaces by contracting segments of its body, much like an earthworm. The robot has been dubbed 'Meshworm' for the flexible, mesh-like tube that makes up its body. 'Artificial muscle' was created from wire made of nickel and titanium - a shape-memory alloy that stretches and contracts with heat. Meshworm is remarkably resilient and may be useful for navigating rough terrain or squeezing through tight spaces.

Topics:
Automation Materials Metals Motion Control Robotics

More From SAE Media Group

    Transcript

    00:00:01 [Music] researchers at MIT Harvard University and soul National University have engineered a soft autonomous robot that can crawl across surfaces by squeezing segments of its body like an earthworm the robot made almost entirely of soft materials is named meshwork tube that makes up its body mechanical engineer sang B Kim and his

    00:00:28 colleagues looked to Nature and specifically the earthworm for design inspiration they noted that the ground dweller is made up of two main muscle groups that work together to inch the worm along researchers created artificial muscle from wire made of nickel and titanium a shape memory alloy that stretches and contracts with heat they wound the wire around the tube

    00:00:51 creating segments like that in an earthworm they then applied a small current to the wire segments causing the wire to contract and squeeze the mesh tube prop repelling the robot forward as an ultimate test the group subjected the robot to multiple blows with a hammer even stepping on the robot to check its durability the robot proved remarkably resilient surviving the attacks and

    00:01:13 crawling away intact Kim says such a soft robot may be useful for navigating rough terrain or fitting through tight spaces the meshorer endoscopes implants and Prosthetics