Legless soft robots capable of rapid, continuous, and steered jumping

Area of Science:

• Robotics
• Soft Robotics
• Actuation Technologies

Background:

• Jumping is crucial for robot navigation and obstacle adaptation.
• Few soft robots achieve continuous jumping with directional control.
• Terrestrial robots benefit from multimodal locomotion capabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a soft jumping robot with continuous and steered jumping capabilities.
• To utilize electrohydrostatic actuation for agile multimodal locomotion in soft robots.
• To enable obstacle crossing through rapid, controlled jumping.

Main Methods:

• Designed and fabricated a tethered, legless soft jumping robot.
• Employed a soft electrohydrostatic bending actuator for propulsion.
• Integrated two actuator units for controlled turning maneuvers.

Main Results:

• Achieved a jumping height of 7.68 body heights.
• Reached a continuous forward jumping speed of 6.01 body lengths per second.
• Demonstrated rapid turning at 138.4° per second and obstacle-crossing capabilities.

Conclusions:

• Electrohydrostatic actuation enables agile and fast multimodal locomotion in soft robots.
• The developed robot shows potential for applications requiring obstacle negotiation.
• This work lays the groundwork for advanced soft robotic locomotion systems.