Compared to conventional wheeled transportation systems designed for flat surfaces, soft robots exhibit exceptional adaptability to various terrains, enabling stable movement in complex environments. However, due to the risk of collision with obstacles and barriers, most soft robots rely on sensors for navigation in unstructured environments with uncertain boundaries. In this work, we present the WHERE-Bot, a wheel-less everting soft robot capable of omnidirectional locomotion. Our WHERE-Bot can navigate through unstructured environments by leveraging its structural and motion advantages rather than relying on sensors for boundary detection. By configuring a spring toy ``Slinky'' into a loop shape, the WHERE-Bot performs multiple rotational motions: spiral-rotating along the hub circumference, self-rotating around the hub's center, and orbiting around a certain point. The robot's trajectories can be reprogrammed by actively altering its mass distribution. The WHERE-Bot shows significant potential for boundary exploration in unstructured environments.

翻译：与专为平坦表面设计的传统轮式运输系统相比，软体机器人展现出对各种地形的卓越适应能力，能够在复杂环境中实现稳定运动。然而，由于存在与障碍物和屏障碰撞的风险，大多数软体机器人在边界不确定的非结构化环境中导航时依赖于传感器。在本工作中，我们提出了WHERE-Bot，一种具备全向运动能力的无轮翻转软体机器人。我们的WHERE-Bot能够利用其结构和运动优势，而非依赖传感器进行边界检测，从而在非结构化环境中导航。通过将弹簧玩具"Slinky"配置成环形，WHERE-Bot可执行多种旋转运动：沿轮毂圆周螺旋旋转、绕轮毂中心自转以及绕某一点公转。通过主动改变其质量分布，可以重新规划机器人的运动轨迹。WHERE-Bot在非结构化环境的边界探索方面显示出巨大潜力。