Given how many worryingly sophisticated new AIs and self-healing or transformative robots come to our attention on an almost weekly basis, it’s easy to forget that “soft robotics” is a thing. Unlike their mechanical cousins, these creations, like the new Glaucus bot, are small and cuddly—and best of all, there’s almost no way they could achieve world domination.
Named after a deep sea slug, the Glaucus bot is a tiny, squishy little quadruped bot that, when inflated, can take the shape of nearly any geometric computer model. In other words, it is the Mystique of robots. Made out of silicone and wax for Brooklyn-based tech company Super-Releaser, the bot houses several internal chambers and “bladders” that can be inflated with air.
“When either of these chambers is pressurized, it deforms and bends the robot’s legs and sides,” said the bot’s creator Matthew Borgatti in his introduction. “This bending produces the walking motion. It is similar to how a salamander walks, by balancing itself on a pair of legs diagonal from one another while moving the opposite pair forward.”
Currently, the bot doesn’t really seem to have any particular use, but the concept could later contribute to future applications, like inflatable medical gear. Honestly, I don’t even care what it winds up being used for; I’m just happy somebody has finally invented a robot that doesn’t have a freakishly high amount of tools for potential world domination.
…You know, unless somebody tries to combine its shape-shifting abilities with an AI and turns our lives into the second Terminator movie.
Source Discovery
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