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Researchers from North Carolina State University have created teardrop-shaped soft robots that leap upward or forward when exposed to infrared light—and will keep jumping as long as the light is present. The work demonstrates a new mechanism for self-resetting jumping behavior in soft robotics.
"This 'ring leaper' design is very simple," says Jie Yin, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at NC State and corresponding author of a paper on the work published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "We use torsion to store elastic energy and then release that energy all at once. And the nature of the design means that it does not need to be reset between jumps. It resets itself."
The robots are made of a liquid crystal elastomer ribbon shaped like a teardrop, with a thin aluminum tube shaped like a V at one end. When exposed to light from an infrared lamp, the surface of the ribbon contracts, causing the ribbon to rotate.
The stiff V at one end of the robot prevents the ribbon from simply rolling in place, causing the ribbon to twist tighter and tighter. This stores energy until the twist reaches a critical point at which the ribbon releases that energy, causing the V at one end of the teardrop to snap downward and strike the surface. This launches the teardrop into the air.
"This 'ring leaper' design is very simple," says Jie Yin, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at NC State and corresponding author of a paper on the work published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "We use torsion to store elastic energy and then release that energy all at once. And the nature of the design means that it does not need to be reset between jumps. It resets itself."
The robots are made of a liquid crystal elastomer ribbon shaped like a teardrop, with a thin aluminum tube shaped like a V at one end. When exposed to light from an infrared lamp, the surface of the ribbon contracts, causing the ribbon to rotate.
The stiff V at one end of the robot prevents the ribbon from simply rolling in place, causing the ribbon to twist tighter and tighter. This stores energy until the twist reaches a critical point at which the ribbon releases that energy, causing the V at one end of the teardrop to snap downward and strike the surface. This launches the teardrop into the air.
