The first deployable 'soft' robot has just been developed, and it's perfect for space missions

You're probably familiar with robots. You've seen them in movies, in science class, and probably in your own hand in the form of a smartphone. 

But prepare to be thrown for a loop, because there's a new type of robot being developed, and it's soft. That's right, kids. It's soft.

There's actually a good reason for this new development, which is being explored by Wei Wang and team at Seoul National University and Sungkyunkwan University. The robot, called DeployBot, is pretty ideal for space missions.

You can think about this kind of robot as akin to an invertebrate organism. Motorized robots are like vertebrates, with the motor as the backbone. This has many benefits, such as endurance and durability. However, if a vertebrate needs to squeeze through the tiny opening under a door, it's more or less out of luck. That's where the invertebrate has a strong advantage. Soft robots have similar benefits in space travel.  Read more...