A robot that can climb trees or overcome obstacles by wrapping its body around itself like a vine has been developed in Italy.
Recently, a research team at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) developed ‘Filobot’, a soft robot that grows and moves in response to external stimuli such as light and gravity. The related research results were published in the international academic journal ‘Science Robotics’.
Philobot is designed to climb over obstacles like a vine or grow into the sky. In particular, because the robot’s movements are not fixed, it can move freely according to the environment.
This robot has an earthworm-like body and a cone-shaped head. At the end of the body, there is a plastic filament as thin as a wire, which is pulled up to the head and slowly rotated to stretch to create a body with the filament like a 3D printer. This means that it can stretch its body like a vine plant grows. Although it grows at a slow rate of about 7 mm per minute, it can climb obstacles stably.
The operating principle of ‘Filobot’. Science robotics paper captureThe filament robot is equipped with an optical sensor and a gyroscope on its head, so it can detect debt and then change its direction by changing the temperature and deposition speed for melting the filament. If you encounter an object or obstacle such as a tree, you can overcome it or climb over it.
In particular, when there is a support, the body can grow faster with less energy, and even without a support, the torso can be fixed more rigidly and supported firmly.
Phil Robot, which can make such movements, has a variety of applications. At disaster sites where buildings have collapsed and people cannot enter, the heat emitted by people can be detected by going through concrete piles. It can also protect a specific object or person by wrapping it like a snake coiling itself.
The IIT research team explained, “Philobot can freely explore dangerous terrain or unpredictable spaces, or it can be used to build complex forms of infrastructure.”
Choi Jae-ho,
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.