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Briefing
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- Soft, Growing Robot – Stanford University-led research team created soft, growing, 1.8mm vine-like plastic "vinebot" prototype with camera-tipped endpoint
- Innovative Design – Inspired by natural organisms grow to cover distances, such as vines, with air or fluid pressure expanding its inside-out plastic body right-side-out, which allows for movement of its tip without body movement
- Robot Capabilities – Carry crates weighing 100-kilograms, grow under gaps 10% its diameter, continue working despite getting punctured by nails, and turn right or left through differential inflation of its body
- Collaborators – Include Stanford University, University of California, Okamura Lab, Stanford Bio-X, Stanford Neurosciences Institute, and the National Science Foundation
- Potential Applications – Can help rescuers view unreachable places beneath rubble and debris, deliver sensors and radio signals, route wires in tight spaces, and deliver water to trapped people
- Next Designs – Include scaling design, and exploring tougher materials, like rip-stop nylon and Kevlar
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