Figure 1 (C and D) shows the forward and reverse locomotion of a crawling robot, when different heating channels (or patterns) are heated. While the caterpillar kinematics involve more sophisticated active control of the body parts at different segments, a caterpillar-inspired crawling robot that can control the local curvature of the body could mimic the same two-directional movement. The key feature enabling the two-directional movement here is the control of the body curvature. Then, while anchoring the front part, the caterpillar releases the hump, becoming flat again and moving one step backward ( Fig. 1B). This motion produces a large hump that arches up the whole body. During the reverse locomotion, the caterpillar anchors the terminal tip on the ground followed by a powerful contraction of the middle part of the body. The entire caterpillar becomes flat again and as a result moves one step forward ( Fig. 1A). Subsequently, it releases the hump while anchoring the terminal tip. During the forward locomotion, the caterpillar contracts a few hind segments while anchoring the front to move the tail forward, producing a characteristic traveling hump on the back. In nature, the mother-of-pearl moth, Pleurotya ruralis, exhibits two-directional locomotion ( 42, 43). Some recent studies have successfully integrated stretchable resistive heaters with LCE for better control with electrical signals ( 37, 39). However, for most practical applications, electronically powered actuators provide notable convenience for system control and integration. A variety of LCE-based actuators have been designed and fabricated, which are often actuated by direct environmental heating ( 31, 32), photothermal effects ( 33– 36), and electrothermal actuation ( 37– 41). As the temperature increases, liquid crystal mesogens transition from the nematic phase to the isotropic phase, leading to a notable and macroscopic deformation in the material. The strategy of distributed and programmable heating and actuation with thermal responsive materials offers unprecedented capabilities for smart and multifunctional soft robots.Īmong different thermal responsive materials, liquid crystal elastomer (LCE), a thermally driven actuating material that combines polymer network and liquid crystal mesogens, has recently attracted much attention because of its unique properties, including large (~40%) and reversible actuation, high processability, and programmability. The capability of passing through obstacles with limited spacing are demonstrated. The bidirectional actuation modes with the crawling speeds are investigated. The thermal bimorph behavior is studied to predict and optimize the local curvature of the robot under thermal stimuli. 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. 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.

To get more stories from Daily Star delivered straight to your inbox sign up to one of our free newsletters here.Many inspirations for soft robotics are from the natural world, such as octopuses, snakes, and caterpillars. Others congratulated the mum for her efforts, saying 'so sad, thank you for trying to save it' while one person joked 'don't think will be swimming at Lepe any more'. Graham Maggs commented: 'It seems strange as we don't seem to get the bigger sharks in the Solent, smoothhounds and maybe tope but the porbeagles, threshers and mako seem to stay out the back of the island.' Vix Hales said: 'I wonder why he was so off course? Perhaps come up with warmer currents.

Two Brit tourists dead in hammerhead shark-swarming waters off Maldives coastĭespite her best efforts, the shark washed ashore the next day, but locals took to social media to air their theories.

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