The Squishy Future of Robotics 36
An anonymous reader writes "The field of soft robotics is fast growing and may be the key to allowing robots and humans to work side-by-side. 'Roboticists are prejudiced toward rigid structures, for which algorithms can be inherited from the well-established factory robot industry. Soft robots solve two huge problems with current robots, however. They don't have to calculate their movements as precisely as hard robots, which rely on springs and joints, making them better for navigating uncontrolled environments like a house, disaster area, or hospital room. They're naturally "cage free," meaning they can work shoulder-to-shoulder with humans. If a soft robot tips over or malfunctions, the danger is on par with being attacked by a pillow. The robot is also less prone to hurt itself.'"
Leaps and bounds (Score:4, Interesting)
Yep, robotics is progressing in leaps and bounds...
Behold the BionicKangaroo
http://www.festo.com/cms/en_co... [festo.com]
Just look at it!
Festo has been doing this for years. (Score:5, Interesting)
Every year, Festo, the German robotics company, builds an exotic new kind of robot as a demo. Many of their robots have been "soft".
Here's their whole list of experimental projects [festo.com]. They've been doing "soft robots" since 2007. Others were doing "soft robots" before that, but the control usually wasn't that good. Festo builds soft robots with smooth, precise control. Festo's specialty is precise control of pneumatic systems, so they know how to do this.
Re:Festo has been doing this for years. (Score:4, Interesting)
The reason why Festo's robots are so different from other robots, is because Festo is not a robotics company, but a producer of pneumatic components. Many of their creations are along the lines, if all you got is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Many of them are really interesting, because they are so radically different, simply because they approach the problems differently.