Princeton University engineers build motorless robot inspired by ketchup cap
Technology
Princeton University engineers have built a motorless robot inspired by the flip-top cap on ketchup bottles.
Led by Glaucio Paulino, the team realized that the cap's curved hinge can snap between stable positions, sparking their idea for a robot that changes shape without mechanical locks or motors.
Pseudocreases enable 6-plus configurations and locomotion
They found pseudocrease, tiny bendy lines, that let some curved shells hold 6 or more different stable configurations, way more than expected.
Using magnets, their robot rolls and crawls just by changing its structure.
The research could lead to simpler robots and flexible devices in the future: think deployable gadgets or reconfigurable systems made easy.