Soft elastomeric structures easy to fabricate using 'Click-e-Bricks'
Scientists from Harvard are focused on soft robots created out of bricks that go together similar to the way Lego kits work. The Harvard team has developed click-e-bricks,-but they cannot be confused with hard plastic building blocks of the well-known brand. Click-e-bricks "are stretchy, flexible, bendable, and even inflatable," said CNET. "They can be blown up like little balloons and then return to their original shape." A video shows the bricks in action, demonstrating a range of possibilities in design and function. You can see how the cube inflates; extra pieces being snapped on to the bricks; the structure stretching in different directions like a tentacle; a cylinder made from circular bricks; and how bricks with channels can be swapped to change fluid flow. The variations go on—squeezing the tube changes where light appears and the bricks could build a reconfigurable LED circuit.