Tech | February 13, 2012 | 3 comments

Snake-Inspired Folding Robots Are Powered by Air and Super Strong

source: http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/snake-inspired-folding-robots-are-powered-air.html

FreeSpiritMuse
Biomimicry has been the source of remarkable scientific advances in the last few years, especially when we look to the planet's creatures that are the least like us for inspiration. That's the case with these air-powered rubber robots that imitate the movement of snakes to move through tight spaces, propelled by air power. They are the work of Xi Chen of Boston University and George Whitesides of Harvard, whose team has now taken the technology to a new level, reported Wired Science.

Unlike the gear-filled, metal-covered inventions that the word "robot" calls to mind, Chen's group's creatures are "soft robots." They are made from paper and silicone rubber. Depending on how they are constructed, they form different shapes and execute varying maneuvers when air is pumped through them. The new generation will also be made of fabric and wire mesh to improve their strength; they can lift 100 times their own weight.

The research group imagines the robots one day being used to move through rubble to spy on military targets.
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