File:Going Soft (8459950430).jpg

Inspired by puffer fish, cartilaginous sharks, and armadillo penises, all of which show exhibit remarkable stress/strain curves versus hard materials. The inventor Saul Griffith (with beard) shows it off to a gaggle of Googlers.

Each arm weighs only 1 pound and so it moves and changes direction at remarkable speeds (our minds presume something that big would have more inertia). But the high-speed control algorithms are not perfected yet. I was sitting next to Rodney Brooks, and had to suggest that they are “fast, cheap and out of control.”

His robots are sewn. They deflate to a pile of fabric. No gears. No rigid structures inside. (Name suggestion from audience: "Sewbots")

With four people on a walking robot, “it has a strength-to-weight ratio 10-100x better than hard robots.”

A key insight from nature: “compliance can substitute for mass” Trees survive a storm better than telephone poles.

Now working on soft wrap-around prosthesis for arm and leg. Others: “We now know that the heart is a linear sheet of muscle wrapped in a knot.” He also showed a design sketch of a muscular-looking submarine. Then, add fluidic computation and <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/6921980487/#comment72157629069372392">soft sensors</a>…

“We have SolidWorks, but there is no CAD tool yet for SoftWorks.”

Otherlab: “we have too much fun.”

Why do this? “To delight my 6-year old niece who asked me if she could ride a <a href="http://www.hizook.com/blog/2011/11/21/inflatable-robots-otherlab-walking-robot-named-ant-roach-and-complete-arm-plus-hand" rel="nofollow">toy elephant</a> to school, we should do this.”