We were a little bit freaked out when the first soft-bodied, icky-looking, invertebrate-like crawling robot squirmed its way out of Harvard’s lab and into our nightmares. Now the design has evolved a few generations so that it no longer needs pneumatic tethers, so it can crawl around in the real world. Oh, and now it’s fire-proof, waterproof, freeze-proof, and acid-proof – so there’s about a 50/50 chance that future generations will be completely impervious to all of our defenses. Thanks, Harvard.

The all-terrain soft bodied robot was developed in Professor George M. Whitesides’ lab and, at first glance, looks kind of like a really ugly toy. Its silicone body is extremely durable, hence its imperviousness to just about anything that the world can throw at it. It keeps on working in subzero temperatures, gets back up after being run over by a car, walks through puddles up to five cm (about two inches), and can withstand 3,000 Kelvin (more than 4,900 Fahrenheit) methane flames for up to 50 seconds.

Besides being virtually indestructible, the rubbery robot can scuttle along surprisingly quickly at speeds up to 18 meters per hour (59 feet per hour). It’s still pneumatically powered, which gives it a good deal of strength: it can dead-lift 8 kg (17.6 pounds) or carry 3.4 kg while in motion. It can run for about two hours on battery power, though it has no sensors or smart capabilities built in.

Thankfully for us, the current version of the soft-bodied nightmarebot does have a weak spot built in: its controller, batteries, compressor, and other essential components are carried externally. This means that, while the robot can withstand all of the abuse above, it is still vulnerable if any of those things happen to its electronic bits. The Harvard lab hopes in the future to develop soft components to replace the rigid, vulnerable ones…and then we’ll see a truly indestructible robot worthy of its own movie franchise.

(via: IEEE Spectrum)

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Ever wonder why so many robots are humanoid-shaped? Why, just last week we were asking “Why can’t more robots be like creepy crawling invertebrates?” Harvard University researchers answered us with their squishy pneumatic robot that was inspired by creeping creatures like worms and sea stars. Powered by a low-pressure air pump (under 10 PSI), five actuators in the body move it forward in a crawling motion.

The result is way creepy, which is why we’re glad that it moves so slowly. It only covers about 3.6mm per second, meaning that any human should be able to outrun it easily. It’s squishy and flexible, making it able to crawl into and under very tight spaces. Soft-bodied, ground-hugging robots like this one could be useful for future search-and-rescue missions where traditional robots wouldn’t be able to fit.

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