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Brief introduction of soft robot.
Soft inflatable robot models are not as advanced as mechanical robots, but their soft bodies do not contain any electronic equipment. The designer of the inflatable flexible robot is a scientist from the Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the US Department of Defense. They think this soft robot will be the best tool.

Xin Chen, a chemist from Boston University, is a member of the research team. He described in Advanced Functional Materials published on February 9, 20 12 that if you want to cross curved pipes or gravel, and other rough surfaces that are difficult to reach, you will need soft robots. This kind of robot can accomplish many functions that traditional mechanical robots can't, and achieve some special environments.

The traditional mainstream robot is made of hard materials such as metal, which loads and connects electronic instruments and components. They can make cars, carry heavy objects and devices, and even dismantle bombs. However, in some special environments, the flexible structure of the robot is very important. Soft robot is made by soft lithography technology invented by Whitesides team. Its manufacturing process is: with the help of electronic components, the surface of the mold is irradiated with light, so that a layer of polymer film covering the pattern is exposed, thus dissolving the area without the pattern. Whitesides said: "This is a very successful technology. Its resolution is very high and its size is quite small, but it is expensive before mass production. "

Soft lithography technology is based on soft polymer mold, which is a relatively simple manufacturing process. Whitesides said: "We can use a plane for projection or output, or we can seal the concave surface to form a channel." With the help of microfluidic technology, the design concept of Whitesides team has been improved from injecting air to generating movement: "Considering the structure of the channel and air pump, this means that its bending can become a feature of soft robots." Engineers are now considering designing robots from a natural perspective, such as designing robot models according to the characteristics of insects, birds, snakes, fish and even dogs. Scientists have successfully developed an aerodynamic rubber robot that can bend and fluctuate like a snake when encountering obstacles.

Judging from the limbs, trunk and internal patterns of the soft robot, it looks a bit like a simplified snowflake, and its central "spinal canal" connects any channel (branch); Robots have two layers of polymers, one is rough and the other is indestructible. When air is injected into the limbs, the elastic cavity will expand like a balloon, but the cavity material will not stretch and the limbs will curl up. When bending, the whole body can move forward continuously with the help of the lateral thrust generated by the friction between the limbs and the surroundings (the robot can crawl under the drive of the limbs).

Whitesides said: "This is not a painstaking concept, but it is very unusual to realize this kind of movement. Driven by these seemingly simple (limbs), you will see very interesting sports. " He pointed out that although the action and structure of this robot are indeed like a mollusk like a starfish, its purpose is to imitate its function, not its mechanism. This new flexible robot can be reinforced with synthetic paper materials, fiber fabrics and metal wires, and has a silica gel shape. After they are molded, the robots are connected to a complex compressed gas source, such as an air jet pump.