BBC Focus

P

O:GE

TTY

OCTOBER 2016

Here’s one bot we definitely have a soft

spot for. Researchers at Harvard

Universityhavecreatedtheworld’sfirst

entirely soft robot capable of moving

around under its own steam.

Dubbed ‘octobot’ for obvious reasons,

therobotisaroundthesizeofanSD

memorycardandisabletomoveits

limbs pneumatically by transforming

liquid hydrogen peroxide fuel into a

much larger volume of gas. This gas

flowsfromacentralreservoirintothe

bot’sarms,inflatingthemlikeaballoon

and allowing it to move its limbs

without the need for rigid electronic

components such as batteries and

circuit boards.

“One long-standing vision for the

field of soft robotics has been to create

robots that are entirely soft, but the

struggle has always been in replacing

rigid components like batteries and

electronic controls with analogous soft

systems and then putting it all

together,” explained researcher

Robert Wood. “This research

demonstrates that we can easily

manufacturethekeycomponents

of a simple, entirely soft robot,

which lays the foundation for more

complex designs.”

Eachpartoftherobotwascustom

designed and put together using a

combination of various moulding

and3Dprintingtechniquesandis

simple to assemble.

“Thisresearchisaproofofconcept,”

said researcher Ryan Truby. “We hope

that our approach for creating

autonomous soft robots inspires

roboticists, material scientists and

researchers focused on advanced

manufacturing.”

The team is now working on creating

an octobot that can crawl, swim and

interact with its environment.

ROBOTS

MEET THE FIRST SOFT ROBOT

THAT CAN MOVE BY ITSELF

The squishy robot

is made entirely with

soft components

What did they do?

Researchers at the University of

California played a constant click track

to a sea lion named Ronan, rewarding

her with fish every time she nodded

along in time. They then upped the

ante by playing her Earth, Wind and

Fire’s funk-soul floor-filler Boogie

Wonderland and varying the tempo at

random intervals.

What did they find?

Not only was Ronan able to keep the

beat better than any other non-human

animal ever tested, she could also

quickly adapt to the new tempos. The

manner in which she did this suggests

that neurons in her auditory brain

centres first synchronised with

the rhythm and then passed on the

timing to the motor centres that

control movement.

Why did they do that?

Over the last decade chimps, bonobos,

parrots and budgerigars have all been

seen to move in time to music. By

further study, the researchers hope to

deepen their understanding of the

biological root s of musicalit y in humans.

SEA LION TAUGHT

TO KEEP A BEAT

THEY DID WHAT?!