Please take a look
New research shows that the first unparalleled robotic elephants can choose flowers and go bowling thanks to 3D printed technology that mimics biological tissues.
Swiss researchers have created programmable lattice structures that can take a variety of different shapes, providing the robot with a flexible synthetic trunk that can handle delicate tasks and stiff bone-like support for more natural movements.
Researchers demonstrated the advantages of geometric lattice design by showing that the robotic elephant delicately grabs the flower with the stem and kicks a bowling ball. In a video shared by researchers, the robotic elephant was able to kick a small bowling ball with 10 pins and knock seven people down.
You might like it
The grid is made from foam and contains many individual units or cells that researchers can program into different shapes and positions. The team argues that “infinite” geometric variations can be combined to create “infinite” geometric variations, and have over a million different configurations that allow for the design of lightweight, adaptive robots, according to a new study published Wednesday (July 16) in the journal Science Advances.
“Using programmable lattice technology, we have a soft trunk that twists, bends and rotates musculoskeletal-inspired elephant robots to build stiffer hip, knee and foot joints.” “This shows that our method offers a scalable solution for designing unprecedented lightweight, adaptable robots.”
Related: A brave baby face-to-face robot wears a jetpack for your next adventure – become the first humanoid robot to fly
Most robots, including the most advanced humanoid robots, are extremely clunky and troublesome in how they move compared to humans and other animals. Our various movements come from a network of muscles, tendons, ligaments and bones, according to the statement.
Elephant trunks are particularly complex evolutionary engineering. Each trunk contains about 90,000 muscle fibers, known as muscle bundles, which elephants can use like a multipurpose tool.
3D printed grids acquire complexity from individual cell units. These cells come in two major geometric shapes that provide varying levels of stiffness, deformation and load-containing properties. Furthermore, researchers can create an essentially hybrid shape on the spectrum between the two main shapes, allowing for more variations, according to the statement.
“This approach allows for continuous spatial blending of stiffness profiles and allows for an infinite range of mixed unit cells,” said Benhui Dai, a doctoral student at EPFL, in a statement. “It is especially suitable for replicating the structures of muscular organs, such as elephant stems.”
Source link
