Vine Robot Actuated with Silicone Fused Chevron Fabric Tube With Diameter Less Than a Millimeter

A vine robot is a single chamber phneumatic actuator that is made up of thin plastic flim.

It everts (flip the inside out) its tail (inside) into the wall (outside).

When it is everting, sharp edges formed on the tip of the vine robot prevent the tip to flip.

This prevention is called as evertion friction.

This evertion friction is magnified significantly when the tube diameter is decreased.

We discovered using silicone fused chevron patterned fabrics as the tube material could avoid sharp edge forming on the tip.

Hence dramatically reducing the eversion friction and allow sub milimeter diamerter vine robots to actuate.

These tiny diameter vine robots can potentially become targeted drug delivery tools, as well as logistic support for even smaller medical robots.