A creepy robo-caterpillar that can sneak under doors has been developed. Researchers have demonstrated a caterpillar-like soft robot that can move forwards, backwards and dip under narrow spaces.
The caterpillar-bot’s movement, which is unnervingly similar to the real insects, is driven by a novel pattern of silver nanowires. They use heat to control the way the robot bends, allowing users to steer the robot in either direction.
The team have shown how the robot's movement could be controlled to the point where users were able steer it under a very low gap – similar to guiding the robot to slip under a door.
