In the soft robotic group at the Italian Institute of Technology, researchers had developed a robot that essentially bulges in and out at the sides while it stretches and then contracts in length. The design is novel, according to Rida Das, a mechanical engineer at IIT. As it uses the positive and negative pressure to generate force, which is directed outwards and along the length of the robotic worm. The innovation means that his creation more closely represents how an earthworm's muscles move and allows it for more varied movements