SUMMARYThis paper presents a soft robot which can imitate the crawling locomotion of an earthworm. Locomotion of the robot can be achieved by expanding and contracting the body that is made of flexible material. A link of the earthworm-like robot is combined with three modules, and a multi-cavity earthworm-like soft robot is combined with multiple links. The multiple links of the earthworm-like soft robot are fabricated by silicone in the three-dimensional printed customized molds. Experiments on a single module, two-links, and three-links show that the soft robot can move and bend on condition of modules extension and contraction in a specified gait. The development of the earthworm-like soft robot shows a great prospect in many complicated environments such as pipeline detection.

中文翻译：

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新型多腔气动类蚯蚓软机器人的研制

摘要本文提出了一种可以模仿蚯蚓爬行运动的软机器人。机器人的运动可以通过伸缩由柔性材料制成的身体来实现。类蚯蚓机器人的一个环节由三个模块组合而成，多腔类蚯蚓软机器人由多个环节组合而成。蚯蚓状软机器人的多个环节由硅胶在三维打印的定制模具中制造而成。单模块、二连杆和三连杆的实验表明，软机器人可以在模块伸展和收缩的条件下以指定的步态移动和弯曲。类蚯蚓软机器人的开发在管道检测等诸多复杂环境中展现出广阔的前景。