Meet Octobot, world's first entirely soft 3D-printed autonomous robot - printed circuit board assembly

Not only is Octobot the first fully soft autonomous robot in the world, but it will work without any battery or circuit.
Scientists at Harvard University have created a 3D
Octopus print
Like a robot, it consists entirely of soft parts, driven by chemical reactions, not by rigid batteries and circuit boards.
The robot, called octobot, can pave the way for a new generation of completely soft, autonomous machines.
Soft robot technology can completely change the way humans interact with machines.
However, researchers have been trying to make robots that fully meet the requirements.
Power and control systems-
Such as batteries and circuit boards-
It's rigid. it's soft so far.
The healthy robot is either tied to an off-
Board system or assembly with hard parts.
Researchers at Harvard University in the United States with 3D printing, mechanical engineering and microfluid expertise have developed the first autonomous, unconstrained, completely soft robot.
"This research shows that we can easily make a key component of a simple, completely soft robot, which lays the foundation for a more complex design," says Robert Wood . ", John Paulson, professor at Harvard University, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences (ocean ).
"With our hybrid assembly approach, we are able to quickly 3D print every functional component needed within the body of the soft robot, including fuel storage, power and drive, jennifer A Lewis from the Wyss Institute of Bioinspired Engineering at Harvard University said.
"Octobot is a simple implementation plan designed to demonstrate our integrated design and additional manufacturing strategies that embed autonomous functions," Lewis said . ".
The octopus has always been an inspiration for soft robots.
The researchers say these curious creatures can perform incredible feats of strength and dexterity without internal bones.
Octobot is pneumatic. based -
Driven by gas under pressure.
The reaction inside the robot converts a small amount of liquid fuel (hydrogen peroxide) into a large amount of gas that flows into the arm of the octobot and expands like a balloon.
"The wonderful thing about hydrogen peroxide is the simple reaction between the chemical and the catalyst --
In this case, Platinum
Allow us to replace the rigid power supply, "said Michael Wehner, a postdoctoral fellow at Wood labs.
In order to control the reaction, the research team used a micro-fluid logic circuit.
The circuit is a soft simulation of a simple electronic oscillator that controls the time when hydrogen peroxide is split into gas in octobot.
The simplicity of the assembly process paved the way for more complex designs.
Researchers hope to create an eight-robot that can crawl, swim and interact with the environment.
The study was published in the journal Nature.