3D printing robot creates extreme shock-absorbing shape, with help of AI
See how an autonomous robot created a shock-absorbing shape no human ever could — and what it means for designing safer helmets, packaging, car bumpers, and more.
Imagine a robot that can wedge itself through the cracks in rubble to search for survivors trapped in the wreckage of a collapsed building. Engineers are working toward to that goal with CLARI, short for Compliant Legged Articulated Robotic Insect.
A new machine-learning technique can train and control a reconfigurable soft robot that can dynamically change its shape to complete a task. The researchers also built a simulator that can evaluate control algorithms for shape-shifting soft robots.
Inspired by sea cucumbers, engineers have designed miniature robots that rapidly and reversibly shift between liquid and solid states. On top of being able to shape-shift, the robots are magnetic and can conduct electricity. The researchers put the robots through an obstacle course of mobility and shape-morphing tests.