This paper introduces an approach to fabricating lightweight, untethered soft robots capable of diverse biomimetic locomotion. Untethering soft robotics from electrical or pneumatic power remains one of the prominent challenges within the field. The development of functional untethered soft robotic systems hinges heavily on mitigating their weight; however, the conventional weight of pneumatic network actuators (pneu-nets) in soft robots has hindered untethered operations. To address this challenge, we developed film-balloon (FiBa) modules that drastically reduced the weight of soft actuators. FiBa modules combine transversely curved polymer thin films and three-dimensionally printed pneumatic balloons to achieve varied locomotion modes. These lightweight FiBa modules serve as building blocks to create untethered soft robots mimicking natural movement strategies. These modules substantially reduce overall robot weight, allowing the integration of components such as pumps, valves, batteries, and control boards, thereby enabling untethered operation. FiBa modules integrated with electronic components demonstrated four bioinspired modes of locomotion, including turtle-inspired crawling, inchworm-inspired climbing, bat-inspired perching, and ladybug-inspired flying. Overall, our study offers an alternative tool for designing and customizing lightweight, untethered soft robots with advanced functionalities. The reduction of the weight of soft robots enabled by our approach opens doors to a wide range of applications, including disaster relief, space exploration, remote sensing, and search and rescue operations, where lightweight, untethered soft robotic systems are essential.

中文翻译：

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FiBa 软机器人爬行、攀爬、栖息和飞行


本文介绍了一种制造能够进行多种仿生运动的轻型、不受束缚的软机器人的方法。将软机器人从电力或气动动力中解放出来仍然是该领域的突出挑战之一。功能性不受束缚的软机器人系统的开发在很大程度上取决于减轻其重量。然而，软机器人中气动网络执行器（pneu-nets）的传统重量阻碍了不受束缚的操作。为了应对这一挑战，我们开发了薄膜气球 (FiBa) 模块，大大减轻了软执行器的重量。 FiBa 模块结合了横向弯曲的聚合物薄膜和三维打印的气动气球，以实现不同的运动模式。这些轻量级 FiBa 模块可作为构建块来创建模仿自然运动策略的不受束缚的软机器人。这些模块大大减轻了机器人的整体重量，允许集成泵、阀门、电池和控制板等组件，从而实现不受束缚的操作。与电子元件集成的 FiBa 模块展示了四种仿生运动模式，包括受乌龟启发的爬行、受尺蠖启发的攀爬、受蝙蝠启发的栖息和受瓢虫启发的飞行。总的来说，我们的研究为设计和定制具有先进功能的轻型、不受束缚的软机器人提供了一种替代工具。我们的方法减轻了软机器人的重量，为广泛的应用打开了大门，包括救灾、太空探索、遥感以及搜索和救援行动，在这些领域，轻型、不受束缚的软机器人系统至关重要。