Arc-heating actuated active-morphing insect robots.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 40148351.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-025-58258-8 and PMC identifier 11950236.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC-ND.
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Abstract
In nature, insects can swiftly move and actively morph to adapt to complex and varied conditions. However, replicating this capability in insect-scale robots requires sophisticated structural designs, which are difficult to achieve at such a small scale without fundamental hardware innovations. This work proposes a coupling mechanism between actuation and morphing by combining an arc-heating actuator and shape memory alloy wires, presenting a fast insect-scale robot (83.4 body lengths per second) capable of active morphing and self-recovery. The arc-heating actuator is designed to provide the kinetic energy and the thermal energy essential for deforming the wires. The robot can compress its body thickness to traverse through a gap of 70% its height smoothly within 2.2 seconds and is amphibious. Furthermore, after enduring pressure 5 million times its weight, the robot is flattened, but fully recovers its original size and performance in just a few seconds.