Light‐Driven Soft Robot Mimics Caterpillar Locomotion in Natural Scale

Rogóż, Mikołaj; Zeng, Hao; Chen, Xuan; Wiersma, Diederik S.; Wasylczyk, Piotr

doi:10.1002/adom.201600503

Cited by 312 publications

(185 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…For instance, Wani et al positioned an optical fibre at the centre of a light-responsive liquid-crystal elastomer (LCE) to induce Venus Flytrap-inspired gripping in 0.2 s when a target object reflected the light back towards the LCE 35 . Visible radiation has also been used to drive untethered, light-powered locomotion in LCEs [36][37][38] (Fig. 2b) and hydrogels 39 , and initiate gripping in copy paper-polypropylene bilayer actuators 40 .…”

Section: Nature Electronicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Untethered soft robotics

2018

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Research in soft matter engineering has introduced new approaches in robotics and wearable devices that can interface with the human body and adapt to unpredictable environments. However, many promising applications are limited by the dependence of soft systems on electrical or pneumatic tethers. Recent work in soft actuation and electronics has made removing such cords more feasible, heralding a variety of applications from autonomous field robotics to wireless biomedical devices. Here we review the development of functional untethered soft robotics. We focus on recent advances in soft robotic actuation, sensing and integration as they relate to untethered systems, and consider the key challenges the field faces in engineering systems that could have practical use in real-world conditions.

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Section: Nature Electronicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Untethered soft robotics

2018

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“…Their versatile deformabilities upon heat/light stimuli give rise to a fast‐increasing interest in realization of novel soft robotic systems, in which the nature‐inspired strategies are often adopted. Strips mimicking opening and closing of seedpods and flowers, actuators exhibiting caterpillar‐like motion such as rolling, inching and travelling‐wave movement, swimmers mimicking microzooplankton, and snail‐like crawlers are but few examples. Due to restrictions in sample size (below few centimeters) and lack of actuation complexity, such soft actuators are based on simple architectures with limited degrees of freedom in movement.…”

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confidence: 99%

Kirigami‐Based Light‐Induced Shape‐Morphing and Locomotion

et al. 2019

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The development of stimuli‐responsive soft actuators, a task largely undertaken by material scientists, has become a major driving force in pushing the frontiers of microrobotics. Devices made of soft active materials are oftentimes small in size, remotely and wirelessly powered/controlled, and capable of adapting themselves to unexpected hurdles. However, nowadays most soft microscale robots are rather simple in terms of design and architecture, and it remains a challenge to create complex 3D soft robots with stimuli‐responsive properties. Here, it is suggested that kirigami‐based techniques can be useful for fabricating complex 3D robotic structures that can be activated with light. External stress fields introduce out‐of‐plane deformation of kirigami film actuators made of liquid crystal networks. Such 2D‐to‐3D structural transformations can give rise to mechanical actuation upon light illumination, thus allowing the realization of kirigami‐based light‐fuelled robotics. A kirigami rolling robot is demonstrated, where a light beam controls the multigait motion and steers the moving direction in 2D. The device is able to navigate along different routes and moves up a ramp with a slope of 6°. The results demonstrate a facile technique to realize complex and flexible 3D structures with light‐activated robotic functions.

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“…With the laser irradiation, the www.advmat.de www.advancedsciencenews.com embedded CNTs in the fiber can absorb light, convert it to heat, and induce the contraction of the fiber as shown in Figure 1A. [27,28] During the contraction of the actuated fiber, all the other passive LCE-CNT composite fibers are stretched, and the tensegrity structure deforms. Within 14 s, the fiber contracts from the initial prestretch of 2 to the stretch of 1.19; the fiber recovers to its initial length within 30 s after the laser is turned off.…”

Section: Light-powered Robotsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Light‐Powered Ultralight Tensegrity Robot with High Deformability and Load Capacity

et al. 2018

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Traditional hard robots often require complex motion‐control systems to accomplish various tasks, while applications of soft‐bodied robots are limited by their low load‐carrying capability. Herein, a hybrid tensegrity robot composed of both hard and soft materials is constructed, mimicking the musculoskeletal system of animals. Employing liquid crystal elastomer–carbon nanotube composites as artificial muscles in the tensegrity robot, it is demonstrated that the robot is extremely deformable, and its multidirectional locomotion can be entirely powered by light. The tensegrity robot is ultralight, highly scalable, has high load capacity, and can be precisely controlled to move along different paths on multiterrains. In addition, the robot also shows excellent resilience, deployability, and impact‐mitigation capability, making it an ideal platform for robotics for a wide range of applications.

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Light‐Driven Soft Robot Mimics Caterpillar Locomotion in Natural Scale

Cited by 312 publications

References 21 publications

Untethered soft robotics

Untethered soft robotics

Kirigami‐Based Light‐Induced Shape‐Morphing and Locomotion

A Light‐Powered Ultralight Tensegrity Robot with High Deformability and Load Capacity

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