HMN 2025: How Muscle-inspired sheet-like robotic navigates the tightest areas

A POSTECH analysis crew has developed a skinny, versatile robotic actuator impressed by human muscle proteins. As skinny as paper, but able to producing robust forces, this robotic can maneuver by tight areas and manipulate objects, making it appropriate for a variety of purposes—from surgical robots to industrial tools. The study has been published in Nature Communications.

Most standard robots are constructed with inflexible steel elements, giving them power however limiting their capacity to carry out delicate motions or function in confined environments.

In the medical discipline, there’s a rising want for robots that may help with surgical procedures contained in the human physique. In industrial settings, versatile robots are wanted for duties like inspecting complicated equipment or cleansing slender pipelines. However, applied sciences that mix each flexibility and power have been missing—till now.

The crew, together with Dr. Hyung Gon Shin from Samsung Electronics’ Future Robotics Division (previously a Ph.D. researcher at POSTECH), and Professors Keehoon Kim and Wan Kyun Chung from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology), turned to human muscle actions for inspiration.

They mimicked the perform of myosin, a protein in muscle tissues that generates massive actions by repeated small contractions. Using this idea, they developed a skinny, sheet-shaped pneumatic actuator.

At first look, the actuator seems to be a easy sheet, however inside it incorporates dozens of small air chambers and multi-layered, multi-channel air pathways.

When air is injected sequentially into the sheet, the floor protrusions transfer in a number of instructions, step by step accumulating small forces to supply bigger actions. Even when bent, the actuator can crawl like a caterpillar utilizing solely its protrusions. The floor can transfer in six instructions—up, down, left, proper, and rotation—and permits versatile management over pace and distance.

The analysis crew validated the efficiency of their know-how by a sequence of experiments. In object manipulation checks, the robotic moved with delicate precision akin to human fingers, and it additionally efficiently accomplished duties involving transferring objects underwater.

Notably, it might deal with duties like cleansing slender pipelines, that are troublesome for standard robots. Additionally, the crew developed a mathematical model to foretell the robotic’s actions, laying the inspiration for various future designs and purposes.

This analysis is predicted to carry modern modifications to each on a regular basis life and business. In medical settings, robots can help with precision surgical procedures by navigating by small openings.

In industrial environments, they’ll carry out numerous duties akin to inspections in confined areas. Additionally, when utilized to residence cleansing and caregiving robots, they’re anticipated to work together with folks in a extra delicate and responsive method.

Professor Keehoon Kim defined the importance of this analysis as “efficiently integrating a fancy three-dimensional pneumatic community inside a skinny and versatile construction, enabling multi-directional actions by a bio-inspired method.”

He added, “We hope this know-how can be utilized in numerous fields, together with surgical robots, collaborative robots in industrial settings, and exploration environments.”