An Ultra-Fast Rolling Double-Helical Robot Driven by Constant Humidity.

Area of Science:

• Soft robotics
• Stimuli-responsive materials
• Biomimetic locomotion

Background:

• Untethered soft robots offer significant application potential.
• Achieving fast, periodic locomotion in constant environments remains challenging.
• Stimuli-responsive materials are key to autonomous robotic actuation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a soft robot capable of autonomous, rapid locomotion.
• To investigate humidity-driven actuation in a double-helical soft robot.
• To establish a theoretical model for predicting robot performance.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a double-helical robot using humidity-sensitive agarose (AG) films.
• Utilizing differential bending of helical segments for actuation.
• Development of a theoretical model to analyze robot deformation and speed.
• Experimental validation of rolling speed, payload capacity, and environmental sensing.

Main Results:

• The Dualicalbot demonstrates rapid rolling locomotion in a constant humid environment.
• A maximum rolling speed of 5.8 BL s⁻¹ was achieved.
• The robot successfully carried a payload equal to its self-weight.
• The Dualicalbot exhibited capability for acid environment detection.

Conclusions:

• The proposed Dualicalbot design enables efficient, humidity-driven locomotion.
• The theoretical model provides insights into soft robot design and performance optimization.
• This work paves the way for advanced, multi-functional soft robotic systems.