Lightweight pump makes push for soft robots

News

This week’s video comes from Switzerland where scientists at EPFL have developed a flexible 1g pump that could help in the development of soft robots and lightweight exoskeletons. 

Made from silicone, rubber or other stretchable polymers, soft robots are being investigated for their ability to adapt to complex environments, handle delicate objects, and interact safely with humans. As the video reveals, the team’s ultrathin fluidic actuators are being examined for use in exoskeletons that could be used for heavy lifting or rehabilitation after surgery.

Most soft robots are actuated by rigid pumps that push fluids into the machines' moving parts and because they are connected to these pumps by tubes, the robots have limited autonomy and are cumbersome to wear.

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Now, researchers in EPFL's Soft Transducers Laboratory (LMTS) and Laboratory of Intelligent Systems (LIS), in collaboration with researchers at the Shibaura Institute of Technology in Tokyo, have developed what is claimed to be the first entirely soft pump.

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