Caltech May 15, 2018
An international team of researchers (Switzerland, USA – Caltech) has developed robots that paddle through water as the material they are constructed from deforms with temperature changes. The new propulsion system relies on strips of a flexible polymer that is curled when cold and stretches out when warm. The polymer is positioned to activate a switch inside the robot’s body, that is in turn attached to a paddle that rows it forward like a rowboat. The switch is made from a bistable element, which is a component that can be stable in two distinct geometries… read more. Video  Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLEÂ
An artist’s rendering of the new design for a robot that uses material deformation to propel itself through water. Credit: Tian Chen and Osama R. Bilal