From Particles to Parts: Building Artificial Life from Soft Multifunctional Materials*

Soft robots have the potential to adapt their morphology, properties, and behavioral control policies toward different tasks or changing environments. This adaptive capability is often inspired by biological systems. For example, caterpillars display undulation and inchworm gaits but can rapidly curl themselves into a wheel and propel themselves away from predators. The armadillo can change from a walking gait on legs to a rolled-up ball as a defense mechanism. Octopus arms can access nearly infinite trajectories. During this talk, I will present recent work toward particulate and fibrous composites that address distributed sensing, variable stiffness properties, and variable trajectory motions inspired by these capabilities in animals. I will then contextualize the materials within three shape-changing robot platforms: robotic skins, robotic fabrics, and morphing limbs for amphibious locomotion.