Robots to Move Like Amoebas

We have gone very far with our imagination in the design of robots; but nature is continuously offering us new ideas.

Now, what about an amoeba-like structure, squeezing through any hole, corner or crack?

This is on the way.

Dennis Hong, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech College of Engineering and director of Virginia Tech's Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa) have won a five years National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) aimed for the development of a robotic locomotion mechanism based on the motion of amoebas.

The Whole Skin Locomotion (WSL) mechanism would function on much the same principle as the pseudopod (cytoplasmic "foot") of the amoeba.

The robot will present elongated cylindrical shape, and expanding and contracting actuating rings, enabling it to turn itself inside out in a single continuous motion, in the same way amoeba generates cytoplasmic tubes for propulsion. "Our preliminary experiments show that a robot using the WSL mechanism can easily squeeze between obstacles or under a collapsed ceiling," Hong said.

WSL will employ all of its contact surfaces for traction and could even squeeze through holes narrower than its normal width. "This unique mobility makes WSL the ideal locomotion method for search-and-rescue robots that need to travel over or under rubble," Hong said. "The mechanism also has the potential for use in medical applications - such as robotic endoscopes, for example, where a robot must maneuver in tight spaces."

Hong's team in RoMeLa is testing several new robot locomotion mechanisms, including IMPASS (Intelligent Mobility Platform with Active Spoke System), DARwin (Dynamic Anthropomorphic Robot with Intelligence), and STriDER (Self-Excited Tripedal Dynamic Experimental Robot).

Hong is also adviser for Virginia Tech's Team SPRInt (Soccer Playing Robot with Intelligence) for RoboCup, an international autonomous robot soccer competition.

This is the only U.S. team that passed the competition's pre-qualification rounds.