Pneumatic Inchworm that Walks Using a Traveling Wave
07/16/2019
![](https://e7794b2f29.clvaw-cdnwnd.com/bd60f68b9fdf392bee87589e0a942729/200000145-805b881e6b/inchworm.jpg?ph=e7794b2f29)
![](https://e7794b2f29.clvaw-cdnwnd.com/bd60f68b9fdf392bee87589e0a942729/200000146-93639945db/inchworm_table.jpg?ph=e7794b2f29)
![](https://e7794b2f29.clvaw-cdnwnd.com/bd60f68b9fdf392bee87589e0a942729/200000139-f26e5f3676/aa.jpg?ph=e7794b2f29)
On a flight to Boston, I figured out an important graphical technique for designing complex pneumatic circuits. I created asynchropillar. After asychropillar worked so well I got the idea to make an inchworm that used a traveling wave propagating down the body to walk.
The design of Inchwork is described by these pictures.
Inchworm walks by sending a compressing/expanding wave from its tail to its head.