Abstract
Bioinspired soft machines made of highly deformable materials are enabling a variety of innovative applications, yet their locomotion typically requires several actuators that are independently activated. We harnessed kirigami principles to significantly enhance the crawling capability of a soft actuator. We designed highly stretchable kirigami surfaces in which mechanical instabilities induce a transformation from flat sheets to 3D-textured surfaces akin to the scaled skin of snakes. First, we showed that this transformation was accompanied by a dramatic change in the frictional properties of the surfaces. Then, we demonstrated that, when wrapped around an extending soft actuator, the buckling-induced directional frictional properties of these surfaces enabled the system to efficiently crawl.
Original language | American English |
---|---|
Article number | eaar7555 |
Journal | Science Robotics |
Volume | 3 |
Issue number | 15 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 21 Feb 2018 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:Copyright © 2018 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science.