RE: "Pneubotics," inflatable robots

DAB — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 23:14:21 GMT

Hi Cabe,

The anoying compressor aside, I think this technology can be used effectively. That said, they need to start using sets of inflatable joints like the muscle arrangement in the human body. Movement occures when you inflate one set and deflate another. When setup with a torsion point or joint, you can create a controlled movement with just a little adjustment to the actual air or fluid you are using.

You can observe from the video, that inflating everything all at once creates a ridged structure that is very difficult to control. If they scale back the inflation areas and add some joint and bladder controls, they could quickly reach a design where mobility would be very easy to achieve.

DAB