An integrated design and fabrication strategy for soft, autonomous robots(nature.com)
nature.com
An integrated design and fabrication strategy for soft, autonomous robots
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v536/n7617/full/nature19100.html
1 comments
So the microfluidic logic isn't too amazing, it's just an oscillator.
And I agree with that this is a brief synopsis of some interesting work. What I don't understand is why this is in Nature. They did something cool, but they don't propose anything new.
Microfluidic logic and soft robotic actuators aren't new. Combining the two is really cool, but not something I would say is worthy of a Nature paper. Definitely a paper worthy of an engineering journal, but not Mature.
Honestly, the people who are likely to use this technology to the fullest are robotics enthusiasts and not the government or big companies. Soft robotics is really cool, but the thermodynamics aren't great. That is pneumatic actuators aren't that efficient, likewise chemical and pneumatic energy storage aren't very energy dense. This means that said pneumatic soft robot can't operate for very long, making it not practical for the sorts of things governments and big companies want to do.
However, it's really really cool and the pneumatic logic stuff might be cheaper to make than really tiny electric valves which is where hobbyist come in. One might be able to print such 'pneumatic automata' on stereolithography based 3d printers.
And I agree with that this is a brief synopsis of some interesting work. What I don't understand is why this is in Nature. They did something cool, but they don't propose anything new.
Microfluidic logic and soft robotic actuators aren't new. Combining the two is really cool, but not something I would say is worthy of a Nature paper. Definitely a paper worthy of an engineering journal, but not Mature.
Honestly, the people who are likely to use this technology to the fullest are robotics enthusiasts and not the government or big companies. Soft robotics is really cool, but the thermodynamics aren't great. That is pneumatic actuators aren't that efficient, likewise chemical and pneumatic energy storage aren't very energy dense. This means that said pneumatic soft robot can't operate for very long, making it not practical for the sorts of things governments and big companies want to do.
However, it's really really cool and the pneumatic logic stuff might be cheaper to make than really tiny electric valves which is where hobbyist come in. One might be able to print such 'pneumatic automata' on stereolithography based 3d printers.
Depending on the price I could see movie studios or places like DisneyWorld using this technology to replace existing animatronics
So there are issues with using this to replace animatronics. One is that microfluidic logic has low operating frequencies, as in less than 100 hertz. This makes it hard to do fine control. Issue two is that elastomers do not have a great fatigue life. Even if said robot is really cheap, if you have to replace every couple of months, things will get expensive.
That being said, one could do things that would be hard to do with conventional animatronics. One could cheaply produce something with a huge amount of actuators that oscillate or go through some simple pattern. Which would be perfect for making a lovecraftian horror with thousands of writhing tentacles.
Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn
That being said, one could do things that would be hard to do with conventional animatronics. One could cheaply produce something with a huge amount of actuators that oscillate or go through some simple pattern. Which would be perfect for making a lovecraftian horror with thousands of writhing tentacles.
Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn
I appreciate your imagination!
Regardless, the people who will use this technology to its fullest are likely to be gov or big companies. Not 3d printer/roboticd enthusiasts