Big Hero 6 Inflatable Robot and Google Solve For X Inflatable Robots in fiction and reality

The Number one box office movie this weekend was Big Hero 6 which stars an animated inflatable robot.

Google Solve For X had a proposal for inflatable robots

Problem: Actuators in robots are heavy and clunky and limit mobility, dexterity and speed.

Solution: Create materials and actuators that are soft – that act more like muscles and tissues found in nature that can exert tremendous forces while being flexible and low weight.

In 2013 they demonstrated an inflatable robot arm

First inflatable rideable robot

Breakthrough technology that makes this possible: Saul and other researchers utilize differential air pressure within flexible materials in order to create large inflatable robots and actuators unlike anything you’ve seen before.

More at SolveforX.com

Moonshots should involve

* new materials
* new mechanisms
* new design tools
* new control systems
* new destinations

Advantages of Soft versus hard

Soft things can do unique things and can do things just as well or better thans hard things

Inflatable car