articleScience AdvancesMar 22, 2023GOLD OA

Caterpillar-inspired soft crawling robot with distributed programmable thermal actuation

SWShuang WuYHYaoye HongYZYao ZhaoJYJie YinYZYong Zhu

North Carolina State University · University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

PubMed
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Abstract

Many inspirations for soft robotics are from the natural world, such as octopuses, snakes, and caterpillars. Here, we report a caterpillar-inspired, energy-efficient crawling robot with multiple crawling modes, enabled by joule heating of a patterned soft heater consisting of silver nanowire networks in a liquid crystal elastomer (LCE)-based thermal bimorph actuator. With patterned and distributed heaters and programmable heating, different temperature and hence curvature distribution along the body of the robot are achieved, enabling bidirectional locomotion as a result of the friction competition between the front and rear end with the ground. The thermal bimorph behavior is studied to predict and optimize…

Citation impact

217
total citations
FWCI
26.66
Percentile
100%
References
68
Citations per year

Authors

5

Topics & keywords

Topics
Keywords
  • Crawling
  • Robot
  • Bimorph
  • Actuator
  • Curvature
  • Soft robotics
  • Materials science
  • Robot locomotion
UN Sustainable Development Goals
  • Affordable and clean energy
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