Compliant Modular Mesh Worm (CMMWorm), CWRU Biorobotics Lab, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

We have developed several innovative designs for a new kind of robot that uses peristalsis, the method of locomotion used by earthworms. Unlike previous wormlike robots, our concept uses a continuously deformable outer mesh that interpolates the body position between discrete actuators. In this video we summarize our progress with this soft hyper-redundant robot.
This video won the "Best Video" award at the 2012 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA ‘12): icra2012.org/awards
Boxerbaum, A.S., Horchler, A.D., Shaw, K.M., Chiel, H.J., Quinn, R.D., (2012) Worms, Waves, and Robots: The Worm Turns… and Runs, 2012 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA ‘12), 3537–3538, St. Paul, MN, May 14–18 dx.doi.org/10.1109/ICRA.2012.6224805

Click to expand...

Compliant Modular Mesh Worm (CMMWorm), utilizes a compliant mesh actuated at modular segments to create waveforms along its body. These waveforms can generate peristaltic motion of the body similar to that of an earthworm. The modular mesh is constructed from 3-D printed and commercially available parts allowing for the testing of a variety of components that can be easily interchanged. The six-segment robot can traverse flat ground and pipes.

Click to expand...

Join Akhil Kandhari, a PhD student in the Biologically Inspired Robotics lab at CWRU, as he explains and shows off his soft-body robot that mimics the movement of a worm. The worm has practical implications in fixing water pipes or even, one day, fitting inside a blood vein.

Click to expand...