Hydraulic hydrogel actuators and robots optically and sonically camouflaged in water

Hyunwoo Yuk, Shaoting Lin, Chu Ma, Mahdi Takaffoli, Nicolas X. Fang and Xuanhe Zhao ()
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Hyunwoo Yuk: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Shaoting Lin: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Chu Ma: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mahdi Takaffoli: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Nicolas X. Fang: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Xuanhe Zhao: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Sea animals such as leptocephali develop tissues and organs composed of active transparent hydrogels to achieve agile motions and natural camouflage in water. Hydrogel-based actuators that can imitate the capabilities of leptocephali will enable new applications in diverse fields. However, existing hydrogel actuators, mostly osmotic-driven, are intrinsically low-speed and/or low-force; and their camouflage capabilities have not been explored. Here we show that hydraulic actuations of hydrogels with designed structures and properties can give soft actuators and robots that are high-speed, high-force, and optically and sonically camouflaged in water. The hydrogel actuators and robots can maintain their robustness and functionality over multiple cycles of actuations, owing to the anti-fatigue property of the hydrogel under moderate stresses. We further demonstrate that the agile and transparent hydrogel actuators and robots perform extraordinary functions including swimming, kicking rubber-balls and even catching a live fish in water.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14230

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