A team of engineers at Stanford University designed a soft robot that could change its shape, allowing it to hold objects and roll. The engineers published their invention in a research paper in the journal Science Robotics.
The simplest version of this soft robot is a bulging tube defined by three small machines that press it into a triangle; a machine that fixes the ends of the tube, while the other two machines move along the tube to change the shape of the robot by moving the corners. Researchers call it an equatorial robot, and although the robot can change its shape, the length of the edges and the amount of air inside it remain constant.