OctaWorm: Walking Robot Octahedron

Chilean engineer Juan Cristóbal Zagal from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Chile with his students designed several unusual robots . One of his designs is OctaWorm , a deformable robot shaped like an octahedron.



OctaWorm is designed to move through pipes and other similar places where it is difficult to penetrate an ordinary robot. It overcomes complex turns like T-, L-, or Y-type joints in sewer pipes. If necessary, the robot is flattened and squeezed into the slot.



To date, three prototypes have been designed, including one prototype that runs on servos. The ability of the octahedron to move was tested under different conditions. The design of the robot is extremely simple: these are parts printed on a 3D printer, aluminum tubes and servomotors, which are controlled by the Arduino board.

The author says that this design of the robot has a potential for use in medicine, because it moves along soft cavities without damaging them. For example, a miniature copy of the octahedron can be injected into the blood vessels.

A large version of the octahedron is able to play the role of a lifeguard and make its way through the wreckage of a collapsed building.

Now the power supply for the robot is supplied by wire, but in the future it will become completely autonomous and will be controlled remotely.