This week at IROS 09 (Intelligent Robots and
Systems), iRobot and the University of Chicago unveiled a soft,
blobby robot that looks something like an inflating marshmallow.
The new robot, called chembot, changes the shape of its stretchy
polymer skin using a technique called "jamming skin enabled locomotion".
This means that different sections of the robot inflate or deflate separately; controlling this inflation and deflation enables the robot to move. DARPA, which
is funding the project, hopes to use the robot to squeeze into small holes or
under doors, which I'm guessing would be used for sophisticated
surveillance.
See Chembot in action in this movie, (which also includes
a detailed explanation of how the flexible skin works).
Chembot is, however, far from the first shape-shifting robot.
Here are four robots that show similar metamorphic skill.
NASA has also been working its own shape-changing robots for
a while. Instead of a soft, deformable material though, NASA's "TET"
rover, shown in the animation above, changes shape by adjusting trusses that
extend or retract. This would let the robot tumble across terrain and squeeze
through tight crevasses on other planets.
Another
shape-shifter is the University of
Southern California'sSuperBot. This one changes
shape using several modular units which connect together like Legos. This
allows it to adopt different motions, including walking, crawling or rolling.
The Maersk Institute in Denmark has made
self-containing modules that can connect, communicate, and share power to make
a long, winding robot, dubbed ATRON. See ATRON modules learning to work
together and develop modes of locomotion below.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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