Researchers at Georgia Tech have created a soft robot that can jump like nothing seen before. Inspired by flatworms, the five-inch robot can leap up to 10 feet into the air without legs. The design mimics the natural mechanism of flatworms, which use their center of mass and form tight bends in their bodies to control direction and store energy.
The team developed a silicone-based soft robot with a carbon-fiber spine, called SoftJM. It can vault impressive heights and mimic the leaping technique of flatworms. The solution came after a year-long effort to film microscopic worms as they jumped, revealing a biological trick known as bending-elastic instability.
SoftJM uses simulations and lab experiments to mimic this process. Reinforced with carbon fiber, the robot can leap repeatedly, withstand high-impact landings, and adjust its direction mid-flight. The implications of this discovery stretch far beyond the lab, offering a unique advantage in unpredictable environments for search and rescue operations, exploration of uneven surfaces, and planetary missions.
Source: https://www.hackster.io/news/these-robots-have-some-serious-spring-in-their-step-38840ecfdb99