A Soft Pneumatic Maggot Robot

Drosophila melanogaster has been studied to gain insight into relationships between neural circuits and learning behaviour. To test models of their neural circuits, a robot that mimics D. melanogasterlarvae has been designed. The robot is made from silicone by casting in 3D printed moulds with a pattern simplified from the larval muscle sys- tem. The pattern forms air chambers that function as pneumatic muscles to actuate the robot. A pneumatic control system has been designed to enable control of the multiple degrees of freedom. With the flexible body and multiple degrees of freedom, the robot has the potential to resemble motions of D. melanogaster larvae, although it remains difficult to obtain accurate control of deformation.