Dexterous electrical-driven soft robots with reconfigurable chiral-lattice foot design

Dong Wang (), Baowen Zhao, Xinlei Li, Le Dong, Mengjie Zhang, Jiang Zou and Guoying Gu ()
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Dong Wang: Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Baowen Zhao: Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Xinlei Li: Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Le Dong: Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Mengjie Zhang: Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Jiang Zou: Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Guoying Gu: Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Dexterous locomotion, such as immediate direction change during fast movement or shape reconfiguration to perform diverse tasks, are essential animal survival strategies which have not been achieved in existing soft robots. Here, we present a kind of small-scale dexterous soft robot, consisting of an active dielectric elastomer artificial muscle and reconfigurable chiral-lattice foot, that enables immediate and reversible forward, backward and circular direction changes during fast movement under single voltage input. Our electric-driven soft robot with the structural design can be combined with smart materials to realize multimodal functions via shape reconfigurations under the external stimulus. We experimentally demonstrate that our dexterous soft robots can reach arbitrary points in a plane, form complex trajectories, or lower the height to pass through a narrow tunnel. The proposed structural design and shape reconfigurability may pave the way for next-generation autonomous soft robots with dexterous locomotion.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40626-x

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