Science Fiction Dictionary
A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

Home | Dictionary | Timeline | New

Soft Robot Powered By Shape Memory Alloy Spokes

A remarkable new kind of robotic locomotion has emerged in the form of small "robots" that are constructed in the shape of a wheel. The spokes are made of a shape memory alloy; the rim of the wheel is made of an elastic polymer. Here's how they work, starting out with a circular shape at rest:

1. An electric current is passed through a selected spoke. Shape memory alloy stores energy in the form of stresses in its crystalline structure. The current heats the spoke, releasing this energy, making the spoke shorter.
2. The elastic polymer rim deforms as the center of gravity of the wheel is altered; the robot moves forward slightly.
3. As current is withdrawn from the initial spoke, causing it to straighten, current is applied to the next spoke causing it to shorten. The wheel moves forward a bit more.

(From Soft Robot home page)

As this cycle is continued and developed, the wheel-shaped robot moves smoothly forward. The creators of the robot, Shinichi Hirai and Yuuta Sugiyama at Ritsumeikan University in Kusatsu, claim that by combining three wheels perpendicular to each other, a ball-shaped fully steerable robot could be created.

This invention reminds me very strongly of the Smart Wheels from Neal Stephenson's 1992 novel Snowcrash. The basic idea of smart wheels is that they consisted of telescoping spokes that altered their length based on road conditions, smoothing your ride over potholes and bumps by lengthening and shortening, respectively.

Update: 21-Oct-2016: The first time I read about the idea of a shape memory alloy was in Samuel R. Delany's 1966 novel Babel-17; see the entry for tensile memory polarized matter. End update.

Update: 19-Apr-2021: It also kind of reminds me of a much larger science fictional robot. See the illustration of the robot wheel from Edmond Hamilton's The Metal Giants (1926). End update.

See Robotic wheels that just keep rolling and Soft Robot home page for more information.

Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 7/3/2004)

| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |

Would you like to contribute a story tip? It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add it here.

Comment/Join discussion ( 6 )

Related News Stories - (" Robotics ")

Robot Bees 3D Printed By Festo
'At first I was struck by the large size of these bees..' - Ernst Junger, 1957.

DIY Robot Scorpion Crushes It
'...it raised its front end off the ground and waved its antennae at them, then raised one armoured claw as if to snip them out of the sky.' - Neal Asher, 2008.

How To Settle An Argument Between Two Robots
'Henry... assumed the curious absent look of a robot talking on the TBR circuits.' - Frederik Pohl, 1954

Satyress Centaur Robot Horror Reminds Everyone Of Something
'Fess was very dutiful' - Christopher Stasheff, 1969.

	Web TechNovelgy.com

Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.

Science Fiction Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's   1950's
1960's   1970's
1980's   1990's
2000's   2010's

Current News

Robot Bees 3D Printed By Festo
'At first I was struck by the large size of these bees..'

DIY Robot Scorpion Crushes It
'...it raised its front end off the ground and waved its antennae at them, then raised one armoured claw as if to snip them out of the sky.'

How To Settle An Argument Between Two Robots
'Henry... assumed the curious absent look of a robot talking on the TBR circuits.'

The Wind Phone Calls Those Who Have Passed On
'Only I heard that!'

Don't Want To Wear A TIght Shiny Bodysuit?
'He looked a good bit like an elderly, fat beetle.'

Light Society: Simulates Earth-Scale Society With A Billion AI Agents
'The king, an old hand in the running of tyrannies, instantly grasped the directions...'

Satyress Centaur Robot Horror Reminds Everyone Of Something
'Fess was very dutiful'

When Colds Threaten You Can't Do This - Or Can You?
'...a hemispherical force field enclosing his head.'

Beautiful Visualization of Dawn Spacecraft
'Then he became aware of a gentle pressure pushing him away from the ship.'

Biological War: A Scenario
'And now they wre busily transforming all their companions, and so on, and so on...'

Pole-Dancing Stripperbot Robot
'Why, a clockwork dancer, or, better still, one that would go by electricity and never run down...'

Collective Superintelligence Is At Hand!
'Maybe the individual intelligence of each Cubic pools into a group intelligence...'

Instant Journalists: Ordinary People With Cell Phones
'We'll show them whose planet this is!'

Health Kiosk Has No Human Doctor
'The electronic body analyzer had been developed...'

Meta's Horizon Studio's Unique Avatars From Text Prompts
'Looks like she has bought the Avatar Construction Set and put together her own...'

VaMEx Biomimetic Mars Robot Inspired By Skink
'Across the ground something small and metallic came, flashing in the dull sunlight of midday.'

More SF in the News Stories

More Beyond Technovelgy science news stories