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AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
InventorArthur T. Bradley
Estimating the term…
An amorphous robot includes a compartmented bladder containing fluid, a valve assembly, and an outer layer encapsulating the bladder and valve assembly. The valve assembly draws fluid from a compartment(s) and discharges the drawn fluid into a designated compartment to displace the designated compartment with respect to the surface. Another embodiment includes elements each having a variable property, an outer layer that encapsulates the elements, and a control unit. The control unit energizes a designated element to change its variable property, thereby moving the designated element. The elements may be electromagnetic spheres with a variable polarity or shape memory polymers with changing shape and/or size. Yet another embodiment includes an elongated flexible tube filled with ferrofluid, a moveable electromagnet, an actuator, and a control unit. The control unit energizes the electromagnet and moves the electromagnet via the actuator to magnetize the ferrofluid and lengthen the flexible tube.
An amorphous robot for use on a surface, the amorphous robot comprising:
An amorphous robot for use on a surface, the amorphous robot comprising:
An amorphous robot for use on a surface, the amorphous robot comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.