Collaborate Disseminate
Researchers working in the field of soft robotics hope to bring about a new generation of machines that are far safer for humans to work with, and one way they hope to do that is through supple, inflatable components. Scientists at Stanford University … Continue reading Shape-changing inflatable robot can nab objects and roam on its own
[Arnav Wagh] has been doing some cool experiments in soft robotics using his home 3D printer.
Soft robots have a lot of advantages, but as [Arnav] points out on his website, it’s pretty hard to get started in the same way as one might with another type of project. You …read more
Hackaday Editors Elliot Williams and Mike Szczys talk turkey on the latest hacks. Random numbers, art, and electronic geekery combine into an entropic masterpiece. We saw Bart Dring bring new life to a cool little multi-pen plotter from the Atari age. Researchers at UCSD built a very very very slow …read more
Building a future where robots work alongside humans relies heavily on soft robotics. Typically this means there will be an air compressor or a hydraulic system nearby, taking up precious space. But it doesn’t have to.
Engineers at the UC-San Diego Jacobs School have created a soft robotics system that …read more
Continue reading Electricity Makes Soft Robotics More Like Us Meatbags
It is an old movie trope: a robot grips something and accidentally crushes it with its super robot strength. A little feedback goes a long way, of course, but futuristic robots may also want to employ soft grippers. [Jessica] shows how to build soft grippers made of several cast fingers. …read more
Jumping probably isn’t an ability that most people would associate with tiny creepy crawlies like maggots, but some, such as the larva of the goldenrod gall midge, can actually leap distances far greater than their microscopic bodies might su… Continue reading High-speed cameras show maggots forming "transient legs" to leap into the air
We’ve seen robots that can respond to touch, to visual cues and of course voice commands, but what about a robot with a sense of taste? Scientists have developed an experimental device built to explore this possibility, and in its current for… Continue reading Robotic arm taste tests its own bathwater for dangerous chemicals
Soft robotics is an exciting field. Mastering the pneumatic control of pliable materials has enormous potential, from the handling of delicate objects to creating movement with no moving parts. However, pneumatics has long been overlooked by the hacker community as a mode of actuation. There are thousands of tutorials, tools …read more
Continue reading Bringing Pneumatics To The Masses With Open Source Soft Robotics
Although we’ve been seeing a lot of robots that are designed to deliver packages to peoples’ homes, most of those bots are stymied by houses’ front steps. Tokyo-based Amoeba Energy is developing a solution, in the form of a tracked robot that… Continue reading Soft-bodied robot could soon be climbing up to your door
Carl Sagan one said “If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.” It might not be a very accurate description of the relative difficulty level of baking, but the logic is sound enough: there’s often a lot of ground work that needs …read more
Continue reading Custom Inflatables Are Only A Laser Beam Away