US Army RDECOM - Army Evaluates DARPA's Futuristic Lightweight & Soft Robotic Exosuit [1080p]

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. (Oct. 28, 2014) -- Army researchers are evaluating prototype devices developed for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

The DARPA Warrior Web program's goal is to create a soft, lightweight undersuit to help reduce injuries and fatigue while improving mission performance. DARPA is responsible for the development of new technologies for the U.S. military.

Researchers from Harvard University's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering spent the past two years developing a biologically inspired smart suit that aims to boost efficiency through a new approach.

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Soft-Bodied Robot Fish Can Swim Like the Real Thing

More science news and info at: http://www.coconutsciencelab.com - in the first issue of the journal, 'Soft Robotics,' MIT researchers report on their new self-contained, autonomous, soft robotic "fish."

Each side of the fish's tail has a long channel bored through it. Carbon dioxide gas from a canister in the fish's abdomen causes the channel to inflate, bending the tail in the opposite direction.

The robotic fish was built by Andrew Marchese, a graduate student in MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

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Credit: Melanie Gonick, MIT News
High-speed footage courtesy of Andrew Marchese

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Soft autonomous earthworm robot at MIT

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.

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