Stanford researchers have developed a new type of robot that can grow like vines across long distances without moving its whole body.

According to its developers, this robot can grow at speeds of 22 mph. The unique feature of this robot is a flexible polyethylene plastic tube that is stored within the core of its body. When internal air pressure is applied, this tip of the tubes comes out of the robot’s body and starts to grow. Designers have installed a camera at the tip of the plastic tube that transmits the video or images captured to the operator of the robot via a cable running through the body of the robot. Robot’s body is made up of different chambers. To make the robot steer right or left, the user has to inflate the one side of the robot more than the other.

The length of the robot is about 11 inches, but it can grow up to 72 meters (236 feet) after application of air pressure.

Elliot Hawkes, the lead author of this research says the inspiration to design this robot came from an English ivy plant growing around the corner of his bookshelf. Elliot Hawkes is a roboticist at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

“The body lengthens as the material extends from the end but the rest of the body doesn’t move,” explained Elliot Hawkes.

“The body can be stuck to the environment or jammed between rocks, but that doesn’t stop the robot because the tip can continue to progress as new material is added to the end.”

According to Allison Okamura, professor of mechanical engineering and senior author of the paper, they are “trying to understand the fundamentals of this new approach to getting mobility or movement out of a mechanism.”

Robot’s developers say their device can be used in a variety of applications such as in rescue operations or medical procedures, etc. When searching people in the rubble of a collapsed building, this robot could be placed at the entrance of the debris, and then it will grow like a vine, into the mass of stones and dirt. The rescuers will then get a view of the places beneath the rubble with the help of the camera. Robot’s designers claim their robot can intelligently move in a tight environment, supply water to trapped disaster victims, or can also be used to feed cables or form a temporary antenna. It can navigate the places that are inaccessible to drones, humans, or hard body robots.

Stanford researchers reveal that they have created the prototype of the robot by hand, but now want to switch focus to automatic manufacturing. They are also planning to do further testing of their device, investigating other material for its soft body, and using liquids for expansion.

The detailed information about this robot has been provided in journal Science Robotics.

Source: Stanford University