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Traditional robots are typically built around rigid frames, motors, gears, and joints. While this design works well in structured environments, it becomes less effective in confined spaces, damaged infrastructure, or rough terrain where flexibility and resilience are essential. Researchers are therefore exploring soft robotics, which are machines built from compliant materials that move more like living organisms than conventional mechanical systems.
A newly developed soft robot takes inspiration from the movement of an inchworm, using an artificial muscle instead of rigid mechanical components to crawl across surfaces.
The robot is powered by a multilayer structure made of alternating and carbon electrode layers. When a small electrical voltage is applied, the polymer expands, causing the structure to behave similarly to a contracting muscle. Removing the voltage returns it to its original shape.
Researchers rolled this artificial muscle into a cylindrical form approximately the thickness of a human hair. By attaching a flexible plastic arch between its ends, they created a mechanism capable of converting rhythmic expansion and contraction into forward crawling motion, similar to the way an inchworm moves.
Unlike traditional robots that require multiple motors and complex control systems, the soft crawler relies on a single artificial muscle to generate movement. During testing, it consistently advanced across ribbed surfaces by gripping the grooves as it alternately stretched and contracted.
The researchers also demonstrated impressive durability. According to TechXplore, the prototype operated for four hours per day over a period exceeding four months without measurable performance degradation. In another experiment, needles were pushed directly through the robot. Thanks to conductive carbon nanotubes embedded within the structure, the damaged areas were bypassed and the robot continued moving despite the punctures.
From a defense and security perspective, soft robotic platforms could offer advantages for reconnaissance, infrastructure inspection, and operations in confined or hazardous environments. Their flexible bodies could allow them to navigate pipelines, tunnels, collapsed buildings, ventilation systems, or other locations that are difficult for conventional robots to access while reducing the risk of mechanical failure.
The researchers also suggest that similar designs may eventually support planetary exploration, where lightweight, durable, and energy-efficient robots could operate in harsh environments.
Although the current prototype remains an early-stage research platform, it demonstrates how bio-inspired soft robotics may enable a new generation of machines capable of reaching places inaccessible to conventional robotic systems.
The research was published here.
