Back in 2007 and 2008, funding agencies had a pretty hefty interest in robots with amoeba-like locomotion, also known as whole-skin locomotion (WSL), blob 'bots, or Chembots.  NSF awarded $400k to Dr. Dennis Hong of Virginia Tech's RoMeLa Lab and DARPA awarded $3.3M to iRobot to develop such robots.  Now, most people are familiar with iRobot's jamming skin robot announced at IROS 2009 (photos / videos below).  However, I would like to share with you the equally-clever and interesting work of Dr. Hong, including a new whole-skin locomotion robot called ChIMERA: "Chemically Induced Motion Everting Robotic Amoeba" that was unveiled at a recent TEDxNASA event.  Dr. Hong's robots resemble those slippery water-snake toys that are incredibly difficult to grasp, with silicone skin (flexible but rugged exterior) and water or gel inside (soft interior).  Read on to learn more!

Having previously written about various artificial muscle technologies, I'd like to examine the electroactive polymer (EAP) variant in more detail.  I'll briefly discuss how EAPs function, then move on to myriad examples of EAPs used in robotics applications, including: biomimetic robot eyes, childrens' toys, and flapping-wing ornithopters.   I'll also look at electroactive polymer artificial muscles (EPAM) that were invented at SRI International and subsequently spun off to startup Artificial Muscle, Inc.  In my favorite example, a hexapod walker was constructed at SRI whose muscles are used for both structural support in addition to actuation.  Now if they could also function as energy storage devices, they'd be the ultimate biological analog.

Building capable robot end effectors, particularly high-complexity hands, can be a daunting challenge.  In this article, we will examine the fabrication of a robot hand with compliant, under-actuated fingers that is rugged enough to bounce back from twisting, end-on and side impacts, falls, collisions, and even severe back-bending.  The specific fabrication process explored is akin to shape deposition manufacturing using materials such as resins (epoxy / Delrin) and urethanes (a "rubbery" substance) of various durometer (hardness).  This particular technique was used to build early hand prototypes for MIT's Nexi (or MDS) robot from the Personal Robotics Group, and further refinements resulted in the Meka Robotics H2 Compliant Hands, as seen on the Simon robot.    Read on for details and pictures -- this should be of interest to robotics hobbyists and professionals alike.

I saw a press release by Robosoft (a French company that creates "advanced robotics solutions") with attractive CAD drawings of a robotic walker meant to assist the elderly.  I thought this was a good opportunity to examine some of the other robotic solutions in this space, from the more complex Care-O-Bot II from Fraunhofer to the most simplistic passively-breaking walkers that prevent stumbling and excessive acceleration.  Read further for more information, and if you know of any examples of robotic walkers to assist the elderly, please chime in!

By now, most roboticists are familiar with the myriad gecko-type robots that employ Van der Waals forces (created by microscopic synthetic setae) to cling to walls.  Less well-known is the work on an electrically-controllable alternative developed by researchers at SRI International (formerly called Stanford Research Institute) called "electroadhesion".  Impressively, the electroadhesive can support 0.2 to 1.4 N per square centimeter, requiring a mere 20 micro-Watts per Newton.  This means that a square meter of electroadhesive could hold at least 200kg (440 lbs) while only consuming 40 milli-Watts, and could turn on and off at the flick of a switch!  Read on for pictures, videos, and discussion.

There was a paper just released in Science (Materials) about "Giant-Stroke, Superelastic Carbon Nanotube Aerogel Muscles." This is a rare case where I believe the research material far exceeds the buzzword hype!  The new material responds to applied voltages by expanding 220% in a few milliseconds, operating in temperatures as low as liquid-nitrogen and as high as the melting point of iron.  It has the strength and stiffness of steel (by weight) in one direction and yet is as compliant as rubber in the other two.  It has extremely low density due its airy (aerogel) properties, is conductive, and transparent.  This materials innovation has the potential to rejuvenate research on artificial muscles, which has generally been focused on shape memory alloys (i.e. nickle-titanium or Nitinol),  piezoelectrics (such as PZT), or electroactive polymers (EAPs).  Read on for a discussion about these alternative technologies, their drawbacks, and why this new material may be a game-changer!