H. P. Thanabalan’s work on soft robot published on European Space Agency (ESA) website
Photograph of the soft robot, consisting of a multilayer rolled dielectric elastomer actuator integrated with a
flexible PET sheet. (Image by H. P. Thanabalan.)Hari’s work on soft robot for planetary exploration has been published on ESA’s website. His work is focused on developing soft, bio-inspired robots for planetary exploration, especially for environments like Mars. The core idea is to build robots that move more like living organisms, for example inchworms, that are designed to survive harsh extra terrestrial environments and use less power than conventional robotic systems. A major part of the research is the use of dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) which is essentially artificial muscles made from soft electroactive materials. When voltage is applied, these materials contract and expand, allowing the robot to crawl in a worm-like motion. The long-term vision is to create soft robotic explorers that can go places current rovers cannot such as subsurface openings that may contain water, ice, or signs of past microbial life.
