Soft robot detects damage and self-heals

According to the team at Cornell's Organic Robotics Lab, the robot can identify when and where it was damaged thanks to a technique using stretchable fibre-optic sensors coupled with LED lights, which are able to detect minute changes on the robot’s surface.

“Our lab is always trying to make robots more enduring and agile, so they operate longer with more capabilities,” said Rob Shepherd, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering.

“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?”

The sensors are combined with a polyurethane urea elastomer that incorporates hydrogen bonds, for rapid healing, and disulfide exchanges for strength.

According to the team, the resulting SHeaLDS – self-healing light guides for dynamic sensing – provides a damage-resistant soft robot that can self-heal from cuts at room temperature without any external intervention.