Study on slime robot (proposal of slime robot and design of slim slime robot)

The authors call the group of flexible deformation robots with multiple degrees of freedom "slime robots" (SRs). First the configuration of a robot with multiple pneumatic actuators is described. This configuration makes the most of the characteristics of a slime robot. Next the mechanism of an "SR unit", the minimum drive unit of a pneumatically driven slime robot, is examined experimentally. Next an "SR module" composed of SR units is described. An SR module is the three degrees of freedom pneumatic module with pneumatic actuators, valves, original displacement sensors and a microprocessor in its body. Lastly, as one of application of a slime robot, a "slim slime robot (SSR)" is described. The SSR is a mobile robot with long and thin body composed of serially connected SR modules.