DARPA’s disappearing robot (VIDEO)

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Harvard University researchers working under DARPA’s Maximum Mobility and Manipulation program recently demonstrated the ability to manufacture low-cost silicone robots with microfluidic channels that allow for air and fluids to be pumped in to control movement, color and temperature.

In this video, a soft robot walks onto a bed of rocks and is filled with fluid to match the color of the rocks.

The robot moves at a speed of approximately 40 meters per hour. Absent the colored fluid, it can move at approximately 67 meters per hour. At a pumping rate of 2.25 mL per minute, color change in the robot requires 30 seconds. Once filled, the color layers require no power to sustain the color.

This video has been sped up and actual duration is 2 minutes and 27 seconds.