Roboticists at Yale University’s The Faboratory have developed a way for soft robots to mimic some of the most disturbing things that animals and insects can do, such as a reptile amputating a limb or ants building bridges by temporarily fusing their bodies together.
In a demo video, a soft, quadruped robot crawls when a falling rock traps a hind leg. The reversible joint to which the leg is attached is heated with electricity, allowing the robot to detach from its leg and escape. Although not shown in the video, the limb can also be reattached.
In the second video, it is not possible for a single crawler robot to cross the gap between the tables, but three robots can merge together (again using joints heated and softened by electric current) and then cross the gap as one.
These possibilities aren’t entirely new in the world of robotics (particularly modular robotics), but existing systems based on mechanical linkages and magnets are inherently stiff, according to Spectrum IEEE. The innovation here lies in the connections, made using a material called bicontinuous thermoplastic foam, along with a sticky polymer. This combination allows the connection to be melted and pulled apart, and then glued back together.
The roboticists described their work in a paper, “Self-Amputating and Interfusing Machines,” published in Advanced Materials. They say that using their techniques could lead to “future robots capable of radical shape-shifting via mass changes through autotomy and interfusion.”
Is this more or less creepy than a smiling robot face with living skin? You tell me.