As reported by Ansathe first and interesting one is coming robot-earthworm which will be used for the underground explorations of the future and for the study of new planets. The creation of this extraordinary creeping prototype is the work of a group of researchers from theItalian Institute of Technology (IIT) of Genoa, described on the pages of the magazine Scientific Reportsdriven by Barbara Mazzolai.
As the authors of the research stated: “Robotic locomotion in underground environments is still unsolved and requires innovative designs and strategies to overcome the challenges of movement in unstructured conditions, with high pressure and friction at depths of a few centimeters. Inspired by antagonistic muscle contractions and celomic chambers (i.e. cavities inside the body) at constant volume observed in earthwormswe designed and developed a modular soft robot based on a peristaltic soft actuator (PSA).”
The team of researchers therefore created a robot-earthworm long 45cm for a weight of approx 600 gramswhich can move at a speed of 1.35mm per second. The job of this robot will be to explore underground spaces (even very narrow ones) of the future, with excavation and research operations and knowledge of the soil. In addition, it will also be useful for exploration of other planets.