. 24/7 Space News .
ROBO SPACE
Snake-inspired robot slithers even better than predecessor
by Staff Writers
Boston MA (SPX) Apr 23, 2019

The robot is made using kirigami - a Japanese paper craft that relies on cuts to change the properties of a material. As the robot stretches, the kirigami surface "pops up" into a 3D-textured surface, which grips the ground just like snake skin.

Bad news for ophiophobes: Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have developed a new and improved snake-inspired soft robot that is faster and more precise than its predecessor.

The robot is made using kirigami - a Japanese paper craft that relies on cuts to change the properties of a material. As the robot stretches, the kirigami surface "pops up" into a 3D-textured surface, which grips the ground just like snake skin.

The first-generation robot used a flat kirigami sheet, which transformed uniformly when stretched. The new robot has a programmable shell, meaning the kirigami cuts can pop up as desired, improving the robot's speed and accuracy.

The research was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"This is a first example of a kirigami structure with non-uniform pop-up deformations," said Ahmad Rafsanjani, a postdoctoral fellow at SEAS and first author of the paper.

"In flat kirigami, the pop-up is continuous, meaning everything pops at once. But in the kirigami shell, pop up is discontinuous. This kind of control of the shape-transformation could be used to design responsive surfaces and smart skins with on-demand changes in their texture and morphology."

The new research combined two properties of the material - the size of the cuts and the curvature of the sheet. By controlling these features, the researchers were able to program dynamic propagation of pop ups from one end to another, or control localized pop-ups.

In previous research, a flat kirigami sheet was wrapped around an elastomer actuator. In this research, the kirigami surface is rolled into a cylinder, with an actuator applying force at two ends. If the cuts are a consistent size, the deformation propagates from one end of the cylinder to the other. However, if the size of the cuts are chosen carefully, the skin can be programmed to deform at desired sequences.

"By borrowing ideas from phase-transforming materials and applying them to kirigami-inspired architected materials, we demonstrated that both popped and unpopped phases can coexists at the same time on the cylinder," said Katia Bertoldi, the William and Ami Kuan Danoff Professor of Applied Mechanics at SEAS and senior author of the paper.

"By simply combining cuts and curvature, we can program remarkably different behavior."

Next, the researchers aim to develop an inverse design model for more complex deformations.

"The idea is, if you know how you'd like the skin to transform, you can just cut, roll and go," said Lishuai Jin, a graduate student at SEAS and coauthor of the article.

This research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation. It was coauthored by Bolei Deng.

Research paper


Related Links
Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
All about the robots on Earth and beyond!


Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly


paypal only
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal


ROBO SPACE
Space Robotics Market to Surpass $3.5bn by 2025
Selbyville DE (SPX) Apr 09, 2019
The space robotics market is predicted to hike from USD 2 billion in 2018 to around USD 3.5 billion by 2025, according to a 2019 Global Market Insights, Inc. report. The market is experiencing rapid technical development owing to the integration of AI technologies into systems developed for space exploration. Several companies are developing AI-based robots that provide enhanced mobility and manipulation benefits. These machines can perform highly-complex tasks for a longer duration and offer mini ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

ROBO SPACE
Music for space

NASA astronaut to set record for longest spaceflight by a woman

Asteroids help scientists measure distant stars

Asteroids Help Scientists Measure Diameters of Faraway Stars

ROBO SPACE
Sea Launch venture may be moved from US to Russia's Far East

SpaceX loses Falcon Heavy rocket center core booster in Atlantic

Arianespace completes deployment of O3b constellation

Europe's institutions consider Ariane 6 and Vega-C

ROBO SPACE
A small step for China: Mars base for teens opens in desert

ExoMars carrier module prepares for final pre-launch testing

First results from the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter

Curiosity Tastes First Sample in 'Clay-Bearing Unit'

ROBO SPACE
China's commercial carrier rocket finishes engine test

China launches new data relay satellite

Super-powerful Long March 9 said to begin missions around 2030

China preparing for space station missions

ROBO SPACE
Canadian Space Agency Sees Science Cooperation With Russia as Area of Growth

Forging the future

Preserving heritage data at ESA

Spacecraft Repo Operations

ROBO SPACE
Wonder materials: 2D phosphorene nanoribbons and 2D borophene get a closer look

Industrial 3D printing goes skateboarding

China to complete $545 mn modernisation for Tajik smelter

India's ASAT 'Justified'

ROBO SPACE
Astronomers discover third planet in the Kepler-47 circumbinary system

Powerful particles and tugging tides may affect extraterrestrial life

Global Challenge Launched to Build Exoplanet Data Solutions

TESS finds its first Earth-sized planet

ROBO SPACE
Public Invited to Help Name Solar System's Largest Unnamed World

Europa Clipper High-Gain Antenna Undergoes Testing

Scientists to Conduct Largest-Ever Hubble Survey of the Kuiper Belt

Jupiter's unknown journey revealed









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.