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MONOLITh is a bioinspired, untethered crawling soft robot. The body is made from a lightweight reticulated foam that provides passive shape restoration and supports the internally embedded components (motors, battery, wireless controller). DC motors pull tendons attached to an external fabric that distributes forces, and novel differential friction elements enable forward locomotion. This robot is capable of traveling at a maximum speed of 0.1 body lengths/sec, lifting 100% its body weight, while remaining 95% soft materials by volume. We expect that the design principles and materials used to make this low cost and scalable robot will lead to the development of useful, and commercially viable, terrestrial or extraterrestrial vehicles. 

Biology has inspired the development of agile robots, and it is now teaching us how to grow machines from living cells. 

Summary A design and manufacturing method is described for creating a motor tendon–actuated soft foam robot. The method uses a castable, light, and easily compressible open-cell polyurethane foam, producing a structure capable of large (~70% strain) deformations while requiring low torques to operate ( < 0.2 N·m). The soft robot can change shape, by compressing and folding, allowing for complex locomotion with only two actuators. Achievable motions include forward locomotion at 13 mm/s (4.3% of body length per second), turning at 9◦/s, and end-over-end flipping. Hard components, such as motors, are loosely sutured into cavities after molding. This reduces unwanted stiffening of the soft body. This work is the first demonstration of a soft open-cell foam robot locomoting with motor tendon actuators. The manufacturing method is rapid (~30 min per mold), inexpensive (under $3 per robot for the structural foam), and flexible, and will allow a variety of soft foam robotic devices to be produced.