Self-healing robot recovers from being stabbed then walks off

A flexible quadruped robot can sense when it is damaged and stop moving until it heals. Robots made of soft and deformable materials can change their body shape and imitate biological tissues like muscles for prosthetics. But because they are soft, they can be susceptible to damage. Hedan Bai at Northwestern University in Illinois and her colleagues made a simple soft robot that can detect when it is harmed and then mend itself before continuing to move. The robot is about 12 centimetres long and shaped like the letter X. It moves using compressed air that is pushed through its body, making it undulate and lift its four legs.