A team at MIT has published work demonstrating a soft robot designed after the humble earthworm. Earthworm locomotion occurs by alternately contracting and extending in waves along the length of their bodies. The MIT folks were able to mimic this using a coil of shape memory alloy wire and pulses of current as actuation. The result is a squishy but rugged robot writhing its way across the floor:
Of course, the most pressing question about this research is can we now also call this dance “The Robot”?
More info here.
