Look Who it Was Random video

Harvard's Snake-inspired Robot uses Kirigami to move | QPT

4,015 views · Published 23 February 2018 · 2:07 · Indexed 20 October 2026

Channel: Rajamanickam Antonimuthu · 2018 · Science & Technology

Watch on YouTube

Harvard researchers have developed  a  soft robot inspired by snakeskin.  Similar to Snakes,  this Soft Robot uses  friction-assisted locomotion to crawl without any rigid components.

The  soft robotic scales are made using kirigami - an ancient Japanese paper craft that relies on cuts, rather than origami folds, to change the properties of a material. As the robot stretches, the flat kirigami surface is transformed into a 3D-textured surface, which grips the ground just like snakeskin.

The researchers started with a simple, flat plastic sheet. Using a laser cutter, they embedded an array of centimeter-scale cuts, experimenting with different shapes and sizes. Once cut, the researchers wrapped the sheet around a tube-like elastomer actuator, which expands and contracts with air like a balloon.
When the actuator expands, the kirigami cuts pop-out, forming a rough surface that grips the ground. When the actuator deflates, the cuts fold flat, propelling the crawler forward.

The researchers built a fully untethered robot, with its integrated on-board control, sensing, actuation and power supply packed into a tiny tail. They tested it crawling throughout Harvard’s campus.

The team experimented with various-shaped cuts, including triangular, circular and trapezoidal. They found that trapezoidal cuts — which most closely resemble the shape of snake scales —gave the robot a longer stride.

These all-terrain soft robots could one day travel across difficult environments for exploration, inspection, monitoring and search and rescue missions or perform complex, laparoscopic medical procedures    

Video courtesy of Ahmad Rafsanjani/Harvard SEAS

News Source: https://www.seas.harvard.edu/news/2018/02/snake-inspired-robot-uses-kirigami-to-move

**************************************************
Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/shop/rajamanickamantonimuthu
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rajamanickam_a
LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/qualitypoint/
**************************************************

More from this channel