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Showing posts from May, 2013

Soft-bodied machines. Future of Actuation?

Squishy Robots. Pros: Soft, Delicate, and full of possibilities. innovative air pocket design and actuation. Cons: requires separate controller at the moment. limited force and torque capabilities? I'm actually rather interested in soft body robots as of late. What's really interesting about these robots is how "gentle" they can be. You don't necessary have to worry about these taking your arm off or even really doing serious damage to the environment when operated. It's a brilliant concept and one that is only recently being realized. The whole system relies on a series of air "bladders" that when inflated or compressed provide the robot with a form of actuation or movement. Through the use of the bladders an infinite work space could be considered as one is not restrained with the kinematics of rigid structures. Moreover it currently has many challenges. The main challenge that I see is controlling the system to a point that