External, Environmentally Aided Steering and Attachment Mounting For Soft Growing Robots

Stanford researchers in the CHARM Lab have developed a steerable vine robot specifically designed for pipe and burrow environments. The adaptable steering device mounts to the tip of a soft growing robot which re-configures itself based on its environment such that the vine robot passively follows a desired path within confined spaces. External sensors and other mechanisms are mounted to the robot without reducing the bending radius. The robot's unique combination of growth-based movement, 3-DOF steering, and compliant design makes it particularly valuable where space is extremely limited, and conventional robots cannot effectively operate.

Stage of Development – Prototype