Flexoskeletons, these insect-inspired robots are faster and cheaper to make.

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Author Name: Desrina R

Category Name: Science and Technology

Description:

The innovation comes from rethinking the way soft robots are built: instead of figuring out how to add soft materials to a rigid robot body, the UC San Diego researchers started with a soft body and added rigid features to key components. The structures were inspired by insect exoskeletons, which have both soft and rigid parts the researchers called their creations "flexoskeletons."

The new method allows for the construction of soft components for robots in a small fraction of the time previously needed and for a small fraction of the cost.

"We hope that these flexoskeletons will lead to the creation of a new class of soft, bioinspired robots," said a researcher. We want to make soft robots easier to build for researchers all over the world. The new method makes it possible to build large groups of flexoskeleton robots with little manual assembly as well as assemble a library of Lego-like components so that robot parts can be easily swapped. The flexoskeletons are made from 3D printing a rigid material on a thin sheet that acts as a flexible base. They are printed with various features that increase rigidity in specific areas -- again inspired by insect exoskeletons, which combine softness and rigidity for movement and support. Researchers surveyed a range of materials until they found the right flexible surface to print the flexoskeletons on -- that turned out to be a sheet of polycarbonate. Careful observation of insect behavior led them to add features to increase rigidity.

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Desrina R
Journal Manager
American journal of computer science and information technology
Email: ajcsit@peerjournal.org