Snails are slow and have sticky bottoms, but they have inspired a new type of robot that can be very useful. Groups of these bots can work independently or combine together to perform tasks that would otherwise be impossible.
In recent years we've heard a lot about “swarm robotics.”
The concept involves utilizing small robots that can operate on their own or as an aspect of a group of the same robots. In the latter scenario, all robots communicate with each other to coordinate their movements to complete the task.
The tasks may include searching for survivors at disaster sites, conducting reconnaissance in hazardous environments, and even exploring the surfaces of other planets.
For some applications, robots must be physically connected to each other.
Because aerial and underwater robots can move both horizontally and vertically, they can form three-dimensional shapes when combined together. In contrast, terrestrial (ground) robots can only move horizontally, so they are limited to forming two-dimensional shapes, limiting their potential uses. Moreover, most experimental models created so far can only move on smooth, flat surfaces.
But things would be different if we had “off-road” ground robots that could climb on top of each other and stack into three-dimensional configurations. This is where the new snail robot comes into play.
The device, developed by Da Zhao and colleagues at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, is inspired by the white jade land snail. Like gastropods, these animals can move on their own. pretty It adheres well to surfaces but stops when needed and uses suction to form a much stronger bond.
The robot has a spherical ferromagnetic iron shell, inside which are batteries, microprocessors and other electronics. The bottom of the shell has a set of tank-like tracks made of rubber with built-in magnets. A retractable vacuum-powered suction cup sits between the two tracks.
When the robot moves in “free mode,” the suction cup is pulled out and unpowered. The robot utilizes the track's magnets to move across the track's smooth and uneven terrain and climb onto the shells of other snail robots.
Once there, the bot goes into “strong mode” by lowering the suction cup and turning it on. That cup then sticks tightly to the shell of the other robot, keeping both robots firmly in place. This means that the robot's shell can still rotate relative to the cup, allowing it to rotate in place without losing suction.
In field tests conducted so far, swarms of snail robots have worked together to perform tasks such as climbing up ledges, passing through gaps, and forming a single robotic arm. For these experiments, the robots were remotely controlled, but the hope is that one day their descendants will be able to perform these tasks autonomously.
You can see the snail robot in action in the video below. A paper on the study was recently published in the journal. Nature Communications.
And should we be disappointed that we don't see any bots? that much Check out the self-healing robot snail created last year at Carnegie Mellon University that looks just like a real snail.
[Nature Communications] A snail-inspired robot swarm
source: Nature Communications