Recent Posts

October 16, 2025 General

The image is a scientific figure illustrating a remote adaptive multimodal crawler and gripper system. On the left, under the heading "Gripper," two panels show a soft, translucent robotic gripper holding different materials. The left panel shows the gripper securely holding a piece of Tofu (solid object). A small, white piece of tofu is also shown below it. The right panel shows the gripper holding a granular material resembling Sand. A pile of sand is also shown below it. Scale bars are visible at the bottom left of this section. On the right, under the heading "Remote adaptive multimodal crawler," two columns of panels illustrate the crawler's motion and shape transformation. A double-headed arrow labeled "Shape transform" separates the two columns. In both columns, the magnetic field (B) direction is indicated by a red arrow pointing upwards. Time stamps in seconds (s) are provided for each step. The left column shows the crawler in a wave-like or serpentine shape, demonstrating a crawling motion to the left. 0.00s: The crawler is in an elongated, S-curve shape. A white arrow indicates movement to the left. 0.30s: The shape has changed, pulling the body forward. 0.59s: The crawler is further elongated and has moved to the left. The right column shows the crawler in a C-shaped or inchworm-like shape, demonstrating a different crawling motion to the right. 0.00s: The crawler is in an arched, C-like shape. A white arrow indicates movement to the right. 0.20s: The shape has changed, pulling the body forward. 0.51s: The crawler has moved further to the right. Small scale bars are also visible at the bottom of the right section. The figure demonstrates the multifunctional capabilities of the soft robotic system, which can act as a gripper for different material types (solid and granular) and as a crawler that can change its shape and mode of locomotion in response to an external magnetic field.

‘Metabots’ Shapeshift From Flat Sheets Into Hundreds of Structures

By Staff The metabots resemble animated sheets of plastic, capable of moving around a surface or grasping objects.