A Printable Soft-bodied Wriggle Robot with Frictional 2D-anisotropy Surface

Abstract

Soft-bodied animals move by using the anisotropic friction between their body and the environment. Inspired by these bodily structures, we propose a wriggle soft-bodied robot with an anisotropic frictional skin to support its locomotion. We combine soft and rigid materials in 3D printers to make different patterns of frictional anisotropy. We build a simulation model to predict the locomotion speed of the robot with different anisotropic frictional patterns. By using these patterns as the ventral side, we design a wriggle soft-bodied robot that can move 2.8 times faster than a robot with an omnidirectional frictional ventral surface. The fabrication time is less than one hour, and the locomotion speed is 0.17 body-lengths per second.