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Soft Robotics
When you see the word “ROBOT”, what is the first thing that pops up in your mind? A huge clanky humanoid with bright vibrant lights attached to its head and a monotonous baritone maybe. Well, that might not always be the case. Recent research and developments have paved way for a new subfield of robotics which is significantly different from the conventional perception of what a “robot” is.
The field in context is ‘soft robotics’. In this field, rather than using rigid parts, more compliant and flexible material like rubber are used as the building blocks of the body. The bottomline idea of these machines is to mimic the characteristics of living organisms and be physically more flexible than other conventional robots. The soft robotics movement aims to transform that into a new type of robotics where robots look, act and feel like biological humans, animals or plants. When suitable components and mechanisms are put to use, more versatile movement is supported.
“The inspiration for soft robotic machines is the movement of marine organisms, namely octopuses”, say scientists. These organisms have something called embodied intelligence, which enables them to function on a day to day basis without applying any logical thinking. If this could be transposed to robots, the embodied intelligence can give them a huge edge and minimise the extensive programming otherwise needed even for a fairly simple activity like opening a jar.
The main demerit of conventional robots is that they are programmed to the last dot on what they need to do. What makes them precise and strong also makes them ridiculously dangerous in the real world as their body cannot reform or adjust to interactions with the real world. Soft robotics emphasizes not on making super precise machines but adaptable ones that can face unexpected situations in the real world.
A soft robot consists of a flexible body made of material like rubber, and an actuator which controls the movement of the body. An image of a starfish can be used to draw similarities. These robots provide a much wider range of applications compared to other type of robots as they have a more fluid range of motion which can be exploited for various purposes.
Soft robots serve various purposes in the present world. They can be used in defence as an alternative for more visually explicit equipment like drones and are also more suitable as they can handle extreme real world conditions like temperature, pressure, etc.
They can be used in medical fields where the robots need to enter the body through small holes with straight instruments. These robots have an edge over the general surgical instruments as they must interact with delicate structures in very uncertain environments. Soft robots provide much more accessibility to unreachable spots of the human body and has the potential to revolutionise the field of medicine.
Here is an interesting YouTube video showing a soft robot being used in a surgical simulation
These machines have also found a role in the fashion industry. The recent innovation- Robotic fabrics can make a huge difference in the field of clothing. They have a sensing component in addition to the actuation component. Chemicals inside the sensors vaporise/liquify based on the temperature, causing the body to inflate/deflate. Thermal sensors are used to reduce gear volume and make the fabric look compact and as mainstream as possible.
The possibilities and uses are endless for soft robots, if one can bring space exploration into the equation. There are plans from the side of NASA to send soft robots into space.
With the soft robotics movement gaining momentum in the recent years, it will be to no surprise if they replace conventional robots in almost all fields and take research and explorations to whole new heights.