LUBRIBOT: A sustainable soft robot facilitating non-contact adhesion and directed locomotion by vibration induced lubrication flow

Robots are currently a direct or indirect part of most people's lives; they clean homes, transport and process biological material for the food industry, assist in enhancing the quality of life for the elderly, and sort waste intended for recycling, to mention just a few examples. The technological solutions for both conventional and soft robotics depend on direct physical contact to facilitate adhesion and locomotion, perhaps the two most essential modalities in robotics. In this project, we aim to develop a sustainable non-contact robot by utilizing vibration-induced lubrication, which allows precise control over adhesion and locomotion without requiring direct physical contact. The project will investigate the use of sustainable and biodegradable materials for the robot, and our efforts are integrated within a Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) framework, which includes a life cycle assessment. If successful, the project will uncover fundamental principles in soft robotics to enable adhesion and locomotion without physical contact, along with guidelines for the potential use of sustainable materials.

Today, the technological solutions for both conventional and soft robotics rely on direct physical contact to enable adhesion and locomotion, the two most fundamental modalities in robotics. In the LUBRIBOT project, we aim to overcome these limitations and will develop a sustainable non-contact robot utilising vibration induced lubrication, allowing detailed control over adhesion and locomotion without the need for direct physical contact. It is a radical step in the technological development as it relies on a new working principle that has the potential to pave the way for a new generation of soft robotic design. At the heart of the project lies a modulation of lubrication flow through oscillations of the robot’s adhesion cup, where we will use multifunctional materials that are bio-degradable. The success of the project requires convergence of different emerging technologies including micro-scale technology for surface patterning, advanced multifuctional materials, robotics, computational and data driven research and sensor development. LUBRIBOT has a simple design based on a combination of a soft adhesion cup and a vibrating motor, allowing it to be cheaply manufactured. A fundamental understanding of the coupled effects between vibrations, elastic deformation of the soft material and the lubricating flow will allow design of controlled adhesion and locomotion. A computational toolbox will be developed to mimic the robotic behaviour and predict its optimal operating conditions. With the increasing use of robots brings a social responsibility to develop these in a sustainable manner. Combining life cycle assessment (LCA) and ecodesign principles with the technological aspects of design in this early phase of development will enable LUBRIBOT to be innovative and groundbreaking in the use of sustainable materials for soft robotics. Our research methodology is embedded in an RRI framework, where our project group will benefit from interdisciplinary viewpoints.