Softworms: the design and control of non-pneumatic, 3D-printed, deformable robots

Robots that can easily interact with humans and move through natural environments are becoming increasingly essential as assistive devices in the home, office and hospital. These machines need to be safe, effective, and easy to control. One strategy towards accomplishing these goals is to build the robots using soft and flexible materials to make them much more approachable and less likely to damage their environment. A major challenge is that comparatively little is known about how best to design, fabricate and control deformable machines. Here we describe the design, fabrication and control of a novel soft robotic platform (Softworms) as a modular device for research, education and public outreach. These robots are inspired by recent neuromechanical studies of crawling and climbing by larval moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera, caterpillars). Unlike most soft robots currently under development, the Softworms do not rely on pneumatic or fluidic actuators but are electrically powered and actuated using either shape-memory alloy microcoils or motor tendons, and they can be modified to accept other muscle-like actuators such as electroactive polymers. The technology is extremely versatile, and different designs can be quickly and cheaply fabricated by casting elastomeric polymers or by direct 3D printing. Softworms can crawl, inch or roll, and they are steerable and even climb steep inclines. Softworms can be made in any shape but here we describe modular and monolithic designs requiring little assembly. These modules can be combined to make multi-limbed devices. We also describe two approaches for controlling such highly deformable structures using either model-free state transition-reward matrices or distributed, mechanically coupled oscillators. In addition to their value as a research platform, these robots can be developed for use in environmental, medical and space applications where cheap, lightweight and shape-changing deformable robots will provide new performance capabilities.