Created the fastest soft robot in the likeness of a cheetah

The fastest soft robot in the image of a cheetah was created. In addition to the speed of movement, he can also boast of the ability to grasp objects carefully.

«Cheetahs are the fastest creatures on the planet, and they get speed and power from the bend of the spine», scientists explained. They decided to adopt this principle for the robot. It was equipped with a bicycle spring spring «spine». Bistability means that the robot has two stable states. It can switch between them quickly. In the end, the robot is able to move quickly across the surface as if jumping. Previous generations of devices could not lose contact with the surface, which slowed them down.

Inspired by cheetahs, researchers build fastest soft robots yet.

The new soft robot is capable of moving forward at 2.7 body lengths per second. This is more than three times faster than previous machines could.