Vine Robots and Their Promise in Saving Lives
by Liam Sternberg
Logo of the Lincoln Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is currently an important laboratory in Vine Robot research and development.
There is often a misguided stereotype of robots as being clunky and hard-edged. However, there is a lesser-known category of conventional robotics that feature soft bodies, currently being developed in laboratories in places like UC Santa Barbara and MIT.
These robots are made to be flexible and soft, which help them traverse certain hostile environments in the modern world with more ease than a hard robot. Their bodies are often composed of TPU or TPU-coated nylon. TPU, or thermoplastic polyurethane, is a polymer known for flexibility, durability, and resistance to oil, grease, and harsh chemicals. The experimental Vine Robot is one such robot. It is inflatable with a soft body that allows it to move through tight spaces. It therefore holds promise in several fields, such as rescue missions and scientific and historical research.
A Vine Robot, despite being very impressive in function, is actually quite simple and elegant in form. The fundamental structure of a Vine Robot is an inverted fiber casing that can be filled with air. As the pressure within the casing increases, the wound-up end of the casing, also known as the tail, is everted, increasing the volume of the casing and returning the pressure to equilibrium. It might seem that a sharp object would be a detrimental drawback to a robot of this type, but this would only cause damage to the outer casing, which can be easily replaced, and as long as the air pressure is increased to account for the new leaks, the robot will remain usable at full functionality. Additionally, and somewhat counterintuitively, force exhibited outward by the robot is proportional to its surface area, which allows the robot to create huge force with little pressure while still remaining soft. For example, if a pillow attached to a Vine Robot had a surface area of 1000 square inches and was pressurized to one pound per inch squared, the pillow could lift an object weighing up to 1000 pounds!
The aforementioned traits of a Vine Robot make it ideal for several functions, such as saving our lives in emergency situations. The capacity of a Vine Robot to navigate tight areas due to its shape and its ability to endure severe damage makes it ideal for rescues in collapsed buildings and other structures. Additionally, a Vine Robot can exert large force to lift rubble while still remaining soft, so that it does not damage any humans it is trying to rescue.
Beyond saving lives, Vine Robots are already being used in another context and will certainly be used in many more. Recently, in Chavin, Peru, an ancient Incan site was uncovered, which contained many large gallery rooms with narrow tunnels, or ducts. These could not easily be examined without the help of a Vine Robot. The soft robot worked perfectly and was a decisive advantage in the exploration of the site. By dispensing a high pressure jet of air from the front of the robot, it made for an excellent digging tool in softer rock like sediment. This could make it a theoretically viable replacement for the digging module on Curiosity, the Mars rover. Additionally, Vine Robots can be used for medicinal purposes. For example, a smaller, quickly inflating Vine Robot might offer a superior alternative to the current solutions for intubation, which might save many lives.
Overall, Vine Robots have unmistakable promise in several influential fields, particularly rescue missions, healthcare, and geology. They, however, have several areas to develop and improve. Scientists are currently improving the Vine Robots with emerging technologies like a steering-reeling mechanism, which will improve its navigation, and integrating magnetic materials within the Vine Robot itself to expand its functionality.