Harvard University’s Bertoldi Group has been inspired by snakes, developing the kinds of materials that best mimic serpentine movement for what they call “bioinspired soft machines”. Using the Japanese paper-folding technique of kirigami, researchers have created a low-cost laser-cut material that behaves like snake skin by gripping on to flat surfaces as it is expanded and contracted. Inflates and deflatesThe artificial snakeskin is wrapped around a tube-shaped robot that inflates and deflates; as this happens the “snakeskin” expands, causing the surface to separate and grip the ground as it deflates. This helps the robot to slither forwards just like a real snake. Harvard has no plans to commercialise the robot just yet but says it could be used to “travel across complex environments for search and rescue, exploration and inspection operations, environmental monitoring, and medical procedures”.

Source: The Irish Times March 01, 2018 08:26 UTC