Researchers have already created self-healing robotic fingers, and now, this strange self-healing soft robot that can fix itself after being stabbed. Cornell engineers made the latter a reality using optical sensors with a composite material to create a soft robot capable of detecting when and where it was damaged before healing itself on the spot.
Stretchable fiber-optic sensors combined with a polyurethane urea elastomer that incorporate hydrogen bonds, allow the robot to rapidly heal. This technology, called SHeaLDS (self-healing light guides for dynamic sensing) boasts reliable dynamic sensing, are damage-resistant, and can self-heal from cuts at room temperature without any external intervention. It was installed on a soft robot that looks like a four-legged starfish and equipped it with feedback control.
Our lab is always trying to make robots more enduring and agile, so they operate longer with more capabilities. The thing is, if you make robots operate for a long time, they’re going to accumulate damage. And so how can we allow them to repair or deal with that damage?,” said Rob Shepherd, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering in Cornell Engineering.
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