ArticleScience advances2025
Adaptable cavity exploration: Bioinspired vibration-propelled PufferFace Robot with a morphable body.
Article in Science advances, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Field-Programmed Anisotropy in Magneto-Piezoelectric Composites for Material-Encoded Mechanoperception.Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) · 2026Article
- Feline-Inspired Robot Enabled by Combustion-Driven Actuators for Agile Motion and High-Payload Obstacle Traversal.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Reprogrammable Phase-Transition Composites for Adaptive Dynamic Shape Morphing.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Inertia-driven amphibious robot with asymmetric microundulatory fin arrays.Science advances · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Robots with adaptive morphology can improve interactions with their environment, allowing adaptive functions without complicated control strategies. Inspired by a pufferfish, this paper introduces PufferFace Robot (PFR), a vibration-propelled soft robot with an adaptive design for exploring cavities using simple locomotion strategies. PFR is particularly useful for inspecting centimeter-scale pipeline systems with varying diameters and shapes, which pose substantial challenges. Although recent soft robots using smart materials offer advantages, difficulties remain in handling different pipe sizes, navigating transitions, and managing fluid flow. PFR's inflatable soft skin is equipped with flexible spikes that create asymmetrical friction under vibrations, propelling the robot forward without feedback control. Its hollow structure allows fluid flow, while a front-mounted camera enhances inspection capabilities. PFR adapts to various pipeline conditions, navigating cavities 1 to 1.5 times its diameter and critical areas such as 90° elbows, T-connectors, and high-curvature sections. In specific scenarios, PFR can generate a propulsive force 20 to 35 times its weight.
Identifiers
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.