Video: Rubbery robot walks through flames and snow

Burn it, freeze it, run it over – this robot just keeps squirming. Created by Michael Tolley of Harvard University and his team, the robot is completely squishy, with no rigid skeleton. At 65 centimetres long, it is bigger than previous designs, all of which have required a tether to walk on land.

Its beefed up size allows it to support a battery pack that keeps it going for up to 2 hours and an electrically powered air compressor system that drives its pneumatic motion. Soft robots are of interest for search and rescue missions, says Tolley, or in any situation where a flexible body can better navigate through tight spaces. Its ability to handle extreme conditions should also come in handy.

In experiments, Tolley’s robot was able to walk through a snowstorm with temperatures reaching -9 °C, withstand flames for 20 seconds, resist water and acids as well as having its limbs driven over by a car. Since the electrical components of the prototype are exposed, it was only the resilience of the body that was tested. But Tolley claims that embedding the electronics in the soft body could be a quick fix.


The team sees the design as a starting point for a new generation of soft robots that can jump, slither and grasp delicate objects.

Tolley and his colleagues plan to improve the speed and mobility of the robot, for example by adding feet, as well as programming it to respond to obstacles or navigate towards a goal.

Cecilia Laschi of the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa, Italy, who is developing a rubbery robotic octopus that can search the seabed, is impressed with the soft robot. “This is a good example of how soft robotics can help build very robust devices, with very low risk of damage,” she says. “The field of soft robotics is now becoming mature enough to show effective applications.”

Journal reference: Soft Robotics, DOI: 10.1089/soro.2014.0008