When performing tasks such as exploring unstructured environments, traditional robots can be hindered by obstacles such as gaps that cannot be crossed. This is where FiloBot excels, as it can grow like a self-supporting vine.
Developed by scientists at the Italian Institute of Technology (Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia), FiloBot can grow toward a light source, away from the pull of gravity (and vice versa, of course), not unlike the tendrils of a climbing plant.
The device has a cone-shaped head at the top, a power/base station at the bottom, and a stem in the middle. As the robot grows, the stem gets longer and longer...but how does it grow?
The FiloBot continuously pulls 3D printed thermoplastic filament from a spool at the base station to its head. The filament passes through the head of a heated extruder that slowly rotates relative to the body. In this way, the robot 3D prints its body in continuous coils of molten plastic layers that bond together after cooling.
Still, bodies are not printed in a uniform manner. Through light sensors, gyroscopes and other electronics integrated into the head, the temperature, direction and deposition rate of the plastic are constantly changing. In this way, FiloBot can control the growth direction of its body, always toward the light and away from the ground.
What's more, when there are vertical supports, the robot automatically circles around them (like vines around a trellis), allowing it to grow strong with less time and effort when strength isn't needed. However, when no adjacent supporting surface is found, in other words, when the head reaches an open space, the body becomes stiffer and stronger and is able to support itself.
A paper on the research, led by Emanuela DelDottore, was recently published in the journal Science Robotics. You can see the FiloBot's time-lapse growth process in the video below.