Soft Robots?

            On Thursday night,1/15/2015, I attended a meeting for the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers at Penn State. During a "Tech-Talk" that was given during the meeting, I was introduced to the theory of Soft Robotics. It seems to be a new idea that is still in the process of being improved for a broader use. The fellow student (Name Unknown)that presented this topic to me had recently done research to help improve and create these "Soft Robots." 
                      
              The picture above was used in the presentation that taught me about this idea. These "Robots" are made mainly of silicon. Some designs for them are made to be completely soft while others such as the design shown above, referred to as the gripper,  are made with an unspecified, malleable materials that rests within the silicon to slightly stiffen the robot. If you look closely at the above pictures, you are able to see that it looks like there is little gaps throughout the gripper. These are stated to be "air pockets" which help to give the silicon its robotic characteristics. On the left side of the grippers in the picture there is a small tube attached to it, this is simply an air tube that is used to pump air into the gripper. I was unable to see one used in real life, but as i was told, when air is pumped into the gripper the air pockets contract and expand to change the shape of the gripper resulting in the ability to grab objects. 
         This design of a soft gripper is also very gentle, in the above picture it is actually picking up a fragile egg then proceeds to return it to it's original position (not shown in pictures) without a single crack. Making them out of silicon gives them a very high melting temperature ( about 2577 Degrees Fahrenheit ). A melting point of this caliber can result in grippers, such as this one, serving as a helpful tool for firefighters in the future. 

Melting Point of Silicon found at:
http://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/14/silicon

Picture obtained from:
http://gmwgroup.harvard.edu/research/index.php?page=23