Multimodal Limbless Crawling Soft Robot with a Kirigami Skin

TL;DR

This paper introduces a bioinspired soft limbless robot with a kirigami skin that can navigate complex terrains and avoid obstacles using asymmetric gaits and real-time feedback, demonstrating potential for search-and-rescue and environmental monitoring.

Contribution

The development of a soft, limbless robot with a kirigami skin and adaptive control for complex terrain navigation is a novel approach inspired by biological limbless locomotion.

Findings

Successfully navigates obstacle-rich environments

Achieves controlled steering with asymmetric gaits

Utilizes real-time feedback for adaptive collision avoidance

Abstract

Limbless creatures can crawl on flat surfaces by deforming their bodies and interacting with asperities on the ground, offering a biological blueprint for designing efficient limbless robots. Inspired by this natural locomotion, we present a soft robot capable of navigating complex terrains using a combination of rectilinear motion and asymmetric steering gaits. The robot is made of a pair of antagonistic inflatable soft actuators covered with a flexible kirigami skin with asymmetric frictional properties. The robot's rectilinear locomotion is achieved through cyclic inflation of internal chambers with precise phase shifts, enabling forward progression. Steering is accomplished using an asymmetric gait, allowing for both in-place rotation and wide turns. To validate its mobility in obstacle-rich environments, we tested the robot in an arena with coarse substrates and multiple obstacles. Real-time feedback from onboard proximity sensors, integrated with a human-machine interface (HMI), allowed adaptive control to avoid collisions. This study highlights the potential of bioinspired soft robots for applications in confined or unstructured environments, such as search-and-rescue operations, environmental monitoring, and industrial inspections.