ERI: A Robot Made from a Network of Balloons

This Engineering Research Initiation (ERI) project will support research that looks to advance the field of robotics by developing a new class of robots that can change their overall shape, safely interact with humans, manipulate loads many times greater than their own weight, and be robust to individual component failure. These robots consist of an interconnected network of robotic balloons that inflate and deflate to produce coordinated movement throughout the entire collective. These networked balloon robots have potential applications including healthcare, eldercare, and disaster response. In healthcare settings the soft, conforming nature of the balloons will safely and comfortably allow assistance with everyday tasks such as switching between sitting, standing and reclining postures. In disaster response, networked balloon robots could aid in search and rescue efforts by moving through narrow spaces while partially deflated, then fully inflating components in order to lift debris or prevent further collapse of a structure. Planned activities in support of this project include the initiation of an annual one-day symposium bringing together robotics researchers from throughout the state of Utah.

The project will explore co-design of mechanical structure and control algorithms for an inflatable, shape-changing robot capable of exerting large forces through distributed, soft actuation. These robots comprise a lattice of inflatable actuators whose individual volumetric changes are coordinated to produce useful motion and shape change. The output force of the robot, arising from the contribution of multiple actuators working together, will enable the robot to lift over 100x its own weight. Despite these high forces, the loads are distributed over a large surface area, allowing safe and comfortable interaction with delicate objects, such as people. A core contribution of this work is the development of a scalable kinematic model to enable precise actuator coordination and inform hardware design. Guided by modeling efforts, a variety of robot configurations look to be constructed and tested, and their performance compared for motion accuracy, payload capacity, and robustness to component failure or unexpected operational events. This research seeks to develop soft and strong robots that can adapt their shape to diverse tasks and environments to perform novel and important tasks.

This project is supported by the cross-directorate Foundational Research in Robotics program, jointly managed and funded by the Directorates for Engineering (ENG) and Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE).

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

Award Number: 2501928
Principal Investigator: Nathan Usevitch
Funds Obligated: $200,000
State: UT