Soft
autonomous robot inches along like an earthworm
Flexible
design enables body-morphing capability.
Earthworms
creep along the ground by alternately squeezing and stretching muscles along
the length of their bodies, inching forward with each wave of contractions.
Snails and sea cucumbers also use this mechanism, called peristalsis, to get
around, and our own gastrointestinal tracts operate by a similar action,
squeezing muscles along the esophagus to push food to the stomach.
image: