Behold the Indestructible Robot Earthworm

Speed isn't everything.

This is Meshworm, the latest creation out of MIT. Like an organic earthworm, sea cucumber, or snail, the soft-body bot moves via peristalsis, or squeezing and stretching the muscles along its tubular body. In Meshworm's case, those muscles are actually wires made of a nickel-titanium shape-memory alloy that expands and contracts when heated. The wires are wound around the mesh tube (the mesh and stretch and contract because it's made of interlaced polymers). When the scientists apply an electrical current to different segments of wire, Meshworm propels itself forward.

It's not exactly swift, but Meshworm, which is funded in part by DARPA, has other impressive properties. Since it's mesh, you can step on it or hit it with a hammer, the MIT news release says, and the little bot can still slither away.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/how-to/blog/behold-the-indestructible-robot-earthworm-11655223?src=rss

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