Kim YB, Yang S, Kim DS. Sidewinder-Inspired Self-Adjusting, Lateral-Rolling Soft Robots for Autonomous Terrain Exploration.
ADVANCED SCIENCE (WEINHEIM, BADEN-WURTTEMBERG, GERMANY) 2024;
11:e2308350. [PMID:
38286667 PMCID:
PMC11005722 DOI:
10.1002/advs.202308350]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2023] [Revised: 01/05/2024] [Indexed: 01/31/2024]
Abstract
Helical structures of liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) hold promise in soft robotics for self-regulated rolling motions. The understanding of their motion paths and potentials for terrain exploration remains limited. This study introduces a self-adjusting, lateral-rolling soft robot inspired by sidewinder snakes. The spring-like LCE helical filaments (HFs) autonomously respond to thermal cues, demonstrating dynamic and sustainable locomotion with adaptive rolling along non-linear paths. By fine-tuning the diameter, pitch, and modulus of the LCE HFs, and the environmental temperature, the movements of the LCE HFs, allowing for exploration of diverse terrains over a 600 cm2 area within a few minutes, can be programmed. LCE HFs are showcased to navigate through over nine obstacles, including maze escaping, terrain exploration, target hunting, and successfully surmounting staircases through adaptable rolling.
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