Soft robotic device capable of growth

Mechanical engineers at Stanford have patented a soft robot with a vine-like structure capable of growing over 100 times in length. The pneumatics-powered robot can withstand being stepped on, extend through gaps a quarter of its height, climb stairs as large as a meter per step, and navigate over rough, slippery, sticky, and aquatic terrain – or, at a smaller scale, through tortuous blood vessels. Within its region of growth, it provides sensing like traditional mobile robots, and a physical conduit, such as a water hose that grows to a fire, an oxygen tube that grows to a trapped disaster victim, or a catheter that grows to a tumor.