Snakelike Skin Gives a Robot the Power to Crawl
Ahmad Rafsanjani/Bertoldi Group/Harvard University
Snakes, serpents, danger noodles. Whatever you call them, you’ve gotta respect them. I mean, have you tried getting around without any arms or legs? (Also, they can bite you.)
The snake’s ambulatory secret is its special belly scales, which grip a surface like cleat spikes to help the reptile push forward. And now that secret has made it into robotics. Researchers report today in Science Robotics that they’ve designed an inflatable robot with its own scales that automatically pop out to get that grip. Even cooler still: The scientists laser-cut different shapes of scales, from circles to triangles to trapezoids, and it turns out that not all shapes are created equal.
https://www.wired.com/story/snakelike-skin-gives-a-robot-the-power-to-crawl/
