Learning from nature: robot-worm

Billions of years of evolution have developed interesting examples for us to learn from. For example, new and flexible, caterpillar-like robots have recently been developed, which will be able to move in particularly narrow places - such as sewer pipes, spaceships, and more 

Yoram Ored, Galileo

In an attempt to develop devices and tools, it is sometimes useful to learn from nature. Billions of years of evolution have developed interesting examples for us to learn from. One of them is the caterpillar pattern. The caterpillar, which lacks a rigid internal skeleton, moves forward with great flexibility, and if we imitate its structure, we may be able to build flexible robots for diverse needs.
Such flexible robots may be used, for example, to climb in particularly difficult areas, to move in very narrow places and to move inside the human body, to assist doctors in diagnosing and possibly even repairing defects in the body. They may move inside the sewer pipes to discover and solve problems, roam over the outer parts of spacecraft to find faults and standardize, and more.
A group of biologists and engineers at Tufts University (Tufts) in the United States launched an initiative to develop flexible robots that imitate the movement of the caterpillar. One of the advantages of the caterpillar over animals with an internal skeleton is high flexibility. The lack of a rigid internal skeleton allows movement in many directions. Another advantage is that a relatively simple brain is enough to control movement. Prof. Barry Trimmer, one of the members of the group, has spent years studying the nervous system of caterpillars, such as silkworms, to understand how the caterpillar's simple mind controls its undulating movement. He was able to identify some cells in this simple brain, which are responsible for some movements.
One of the problems in developing such a robot-caterpillar is the nature of the material from which the robot is made. The researchers are looking for a soft and flexible, but also strong material, from which it will be possible to build the caterpillar's body as well as its electronic components. Prof. David Kaplan, a member of the group, conducts research to search for such materials. He intends to apply knowledge in the field of nanotechnology and genetic engineering to create a strong material suitable for this purpose. Another problem is that the lack of hard parts of the caterpillar's body makes it difficult to transfer the power to drive it. To deal with this difficulty, the group intends to develop the caterpillar robot so that it has several rigid parts, which can be used to transmit power for its movement.