photopolymerization tagged posts

Engineers discover new process for Synthetic Material Growth, enabling Soft Robots that Grow like Plants

Ph.D. student Matt Hausladen with a soft robot in the lab
University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers have developed a plant-inspired extrusion process that allows soft robots to build their own solid bodies from liquid to navigate hard-to-reach places and complicated terrain.

Soft robots can navigate hard-to-reach places like pipes or inside the human body. An interdisciplinary team of University of Minnesota Twin Cities scientists and engineers has developed a first-of-its-kind, plant-inspired extrusion process that enables synthetic material growth. The new approach will allow researchers to build better soft robots that can navigate hard-to-reach places, complicated terrain, and potentially areas within the human body.

The paper is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

“This is the first time t...

Read More