Why Robots That Bend Are Better

On Thursday February 18th, 2021 the NASA Perseverance Rover will land on Mars. It is a wonderful robot, made out of steel and wire — but will future robots look like Perseverance? There is an emerging field of research on "soft robots", where the machines are flexible. These soft robots have many advantages over traditional robots — they're safer, lighter, more flexible and can change their shape and size.

NASA is investigating the use of soft robots for space missions. For future visits to Enceladus or Europa, a lander could cut a hole in the ice and then insert a compliant robot through the hole. This robot could then grow and change shape on the other side.

References:
N. S. Usevitch, Z. M. Hammond, M. Schwager, A. M. Okamura, E. W. Hawkes, S. Follmer, An untethered isoperimetric soft robot. Sci. Robot. 4,

Electronics-free pneumatic circuits for controlling soft-legged robots
Dylan Drotman1, Saurabh Jadhav, David Sharp, Christian Chan, Michael T. Tolley Sci. Robot. 6, eaay2627 (2021)

Special thanks to Patreon supporters:
Jim Osmun, Tyson McDowell, Ludovic Robillard, jim buckmaster, Robert, fanime96, Marc Forand, Juan Benet, Ruslan Khroma, Robert Blum, Grace O'Maille KRON x Arc iOS, Richard Sundvall, Lee Redden, Vincent, Lyvann Ferrusca, Alfred Wallace, Arjun Chakroborty, Joar Wandborg, Clayton Greenwell, Pindex , Michael Krugman, Cy 'kkm' K'Nelson, Sam Lutfi, Ron Neal, Bryan Baker

Video supplied by Getty Images

Thanks to Zachary Hammond for showing me the soft truss robot
Filmed by Derek Muller
Edited and GFX by Trenton Oliver
Animation by Ivy Tello
Music by Jonny Hyman
Thumbnail by Ignat Berbeci, Dan Meyer

[jonopriestley]

Kinda crazy how after 10 years Derek is still just as interesting as ever with the simple aim of science education. Like... he’s never had to change his channel’s main output style or type. That’s cool 😎

[GareebScientist]

Punctuated rolling i got a new word for drunk people walking

[faming_hearts]

we're one step closer to having a real life baymax

[Fillthrill]

Guy: "Hey friend, when did you take up sewing? You making pillows or something?"
Genius: "I'm obviously making a robot"

[FishyBoi]

The idea that a soft robot can't hurt someone is literally Baymax's whole thing

[turtlemaster]

I see that they have learned from the best

The turtles

[calebnewton_]

- "it's soft, it can't hurt you"
* "can I be inside it?"
- "yeah, just watch your head"

[greyalien]

Makes me think of a portable bridge that can reach different elevations . Mobil and strong maybe even remote

[ayloncohen]

Derek: How does this robot even work?
Zack: COMPLIANCE
Derek: And what do-
Zack: *C O M P L I A N C E*

[NeuromodulatorNetwork]

*Many robots (including soft robots) are programmed for locomotion and other forms of motor control based upon the wiring principles of central pattern generators* (CPGs)—neural circuits that produce a wide frequency range of oscillatory rhythmic outputs even in the absence of sensory feedback—that have been adapted by evolution over hundreds of millions of years across the animal kingdom for axial, quadrupedal, and bipedal locomotion, as well as many other peculiar forms of locomotion, including rolling locomotion akin to that of the robot showcased in this video here. After several months of preparation, I'll soon be posting vids from my perspective as a Harvard neurobiologist and scientific editor/consultant. Cheers.

[DyslexicMitochondria]

A robot walks into a bar and takes a seat.
The bartender says: We don't serve robots.
The robot replies: Someday you will

[DubaiGuy]

I love it! We tend to create robots in our image or shape, or that of animals, e.g. bodies with heads, arms and legs. But I think Zack's soft robots have far more functional possibilities, because he dispensed with the idea of replicating a human or animal form.

[samiurrahmanshah]

Is it possible to use "Mousse", a sponge or "Moose", foam they use in mountain bike tires, so this robot will never go flat, plus potentially be able to be unloaded to space without it being overinflated due to the high difference in pressure.

[howardkong]

Meanwhile in the octopus civilization: Why rigid robots are better

[Psychgo]

I have never seen those soft robots before. So cool!

[DyslexicMitochondria]

What do you call a one night stand with a robot?
Screw, Nut and bolt

[jacobpaint]

It's a shame you didn't talk more about the actual uses and how the robot can be modified to achieve them. It's great that it shrinks down and Nasa could drill a hole to drop it in but what does it do then. The structure of the robot presents challenges to implementing the various uses, picking up a ball seems like a very limited use and I'm sure they have considered how to modify them to do more complicated tasks.

[GreggyAck]

Bender from Futurama is the best bending robot, no question.

[kincper]

I haven’t been paid to say that I am currently in the kiwi co sub rip toon thing and really enjoy it.

[JohnDoe-mlye]

One of the sausage robots is “polish” and the other is “kielbasa”, which is just “sausage” in Polish. Lmao