Jan-Mar 2025

Announcements

• IROS 2025 Workshops:
  • The Soft Robotics Embodied Intelligence Challenge
  • The SOFT frontier 2: Practical Applications In Soft Robotics
  • Benchmarking in Soft Robotics Towards Community-driven Standards for Simulations, Sensing, and Control
  • Workshop on Textile Robotics: A Material (R)Evolution
  • Bridging Human Expertise and Robotics: How Can AI and Soft Robotics Revolutionize Agriculture
  • Touching Tomorrow: How Soft Robotics, Flexible Electronics, and the Metaverse are Shaping Future Haptics

Featured Videos

• Adaptive Neural Control with Online Learning and Short-Term Memory for Adaptive Soft Crawling Robots (Mar-25)
• How a Flexible Robot Helps Find Survivors Inside Collapsed Buildings (Jan-25)

Featured Books

• Soft Actuators and Robotics (MDPI)

Featured Articles

Views and Reviews

• Roadmap on embodying mechano-intelligence and computing in functional materials and structures (IOP Science, Mar-25)
• Mechanical metamaterial sensors: from design to applications (IOP Science, Feb-25)
• Compliant Robotics in Space: A Prospective Review of Soft and Deformable Systems for Space Missions (Adv Int Sys, Mar-25)
• A Comprehensive Review of Key Cyber-Physical Systems, and Assessment of Their Education Challenges (IEEE Access, Jan-25)
• Fiber Optic Sensors in Tactile Sensing: A Review (IEEE TIM, Jan-25)
• Continuum and Soft Robots in Minimally Invasive Surgery: A Systematic Review (IEEE Access, Jan-25)
• Exploring the Shift From 3-D Printing to 4-D Printing: A Review (IEEE Sensors, Jan-25)
• Grasping Deformable Objects in Industry Application: A Comprehensive Review of Robotic Manipulation (IEEE Access, Feb-25)
• Continuum Robotic Catheter Systems for Transcatheter Mitral Valve Procedures: A Technical Review (IEEE Access, Mar-25)
• A democratized bimodal model of research for soft robotics: Integrating slow and fast science (Science, Feb-25)
• Untethered Soft Robots Based on 1D and 2D Nanomaterials (Wiley, Jan-25)
• Advances in 3D and 4D Printing of Soft Robotics and Their Applications (Wiley, Mar-25)
• Toward Autonomous Self-Healing in Soft Robotics: A Review and Perspective for Future Research (Wiley, Feb-25)

New Materials, Actuators & Stiffening Methods

• Variable-stiffness metamaterials with switchable Poisson’s ratio (Cell, Jan-25)
• Reconfigurable Modular Soft Actuator Using Origami Structures With Self-Healing Materials: Several Technological Opportunities for Robotic Applications (IEEE RAM, Feb-25)
• Programmable failure in heat-sealable sheet-based fluidic devices (Cell Reports, Feb-25)
• Soft multifunctional bistable fabric mechanism for electronics-free autonomous robots (Science, Jan-25)
• Multimaterial cryogenic printing of three-dimensional soft hydrogel machines (Nature, Jan-25)
• Electropneumatic Oscillators Using Nonlinear Inflatables (Adv Int Sys, Feb-25)
• Soft, Fiber-Reinforced Bellow Actuators (IEEE RA-L, Jan-25)
• Hybrid Tendon-Actuated and Soft Magnetic Robotic Platform for Pancreatic Applications (IEEE RA-L, Jan-25)
• Design, Modeling, and Optimization of Hydraulically Powered Double-Joint Soft Robotic Fish (IEEE T-RO, Jan-25)
• Magnetic Continuum Robot With Modular Axial Magnetization: Design, Modeling, Optimization, and Control (IEEE T-RO, Jan-25)
• Design and Analysis of a Hybrid Actuator With Resilient Origami-Inspired Hinges (IEEE RA-L, Jan-25)
• Soft Scissor: A Cartilage-Inspired, Pneumatic Artificial Muscle for Wearable Devices (IEEE RA-L, Jan-25)
• Tube Mechanism for Positively Pressurized Variable Stiffness by Lever and Wire (IEEE RA-L, Jan-25)
• Design and Evaluation of a Spherical Multi-Layered Unit for String Jamming Mechanisms (IEEE Access, Jan-25)
• McKibben Muscle With Elastic Thread Embedded in Parallel Extending Range of Motion of Muscle-Driven Robots (IEEE RA-L, Jan-25)
• Design and Control of a Modular, Untethered Soft Origami Robot Driven by SMA Coils (IEEE T-IE, Jan-25)
• Single Pump-Valve Pneumatic Actuation With Continuous Flow Rate Control for Soft Robots (IEEE RA-L, Jan-25)
• SUTBot: A Soft Umbrella-Like Tensegrity Robot With Elastic Struts for in-Pipe Locomotion (IEEE RA-L, Feb-25)
• Robots Evolved From Non-Euclidean Composite Origami (IEEE RA-L, Feb-25)
• Design of a Fully-Soft Lift-Assist Wearable Suit Powered by Flat Inflatable Artificial Muscles (IEEE RA-L, Feb-25)
• Dual-Tendon Routing: Tendon Routing for Under-Actuated Tendon-Driven Soft Hand-Wearable Robot (IEEE RA-L, Feb-25)
• A Novel Wavy Soft Pneumatic Actuator Combining Variable Thickness and an Unconstrained Base (IEEE RA-L, Feb-25)
• Reconfigurable Soft Pneumatic Actuators Using Multi-Material Self-Healing Polymers (IEEE RA-L, Mar-25)
• Variable Stiffness Actuation via 3D-Printed Nonlinear Torsional Springs (IEEE RA-L, Mar-25)
• Dual-Mode Variable-Stiffness Soft Gripper Based on Electrorheological Fluids (IEEE T-IE, Mar-25)
• Bridging hard and soft: Mechanical metamaterials enable rigid torque transmission in soft robots (Science, Mar-25)
• Weaving liquid crystal elastomer fiber actuators for multifunctional soft robotics (Science, Feb-25)
• Soft multifunctional bistable fabric mechanism for electronics-free autonomous robots (Science, Jan-25)
• Biodegradable origami enables closed-loop sustainable robotic systems (Science, Feb-25)
• A hyperelastic torque-reversal mechanism for soft joints with compression-responsive transient bistability (Science, Jan-25)
• Bidirectional rotational antagonistic shape memory alloy actuators for high-frequency artificial muscles (Nature, Mar-25)
• Reprogrammable Flexible Piezoelectric Actuator Arrays with a High Degree of Freedom for Shape Morphing and Locomotion (SoRo Journal, Jan-25)
• Tri-Prism Origami Enabled Soft Modular Actuator for Reconfigurable Robots (SoRo Journal, Jan-25)
• Stiffness Tunable Magnetic Actuators Based on Shape Memory Polymer/NdFeB Composite for Segmental Controllable Motion (SoRo Journal, Jan-25)
• Soft Robotic Heart Formed with a Myocardial Band for Cardiac Functions (SoRo Journal, Feb-25)
• Hydraulically Amplified Rigidity-Adaptive Electrostatic Actuators with High Performance and Smooth Motion Control (SoRo Journal, Feb-25)
• A Multi-Curvature Soft Gripper Based on Segmented Variable Stiffness Structure Inspired by Snake Scales (SoRo Journal, Feb-25)
• A Rolling Light-Driven Pneumatic Soft Actuator Based on Liquid–Gas Phase Change (Wiley, Feb-25)
• Soft, Modular Power for Composing Robots with Embodied Energy (Wiley, Jan-25)
• Electropneumatic Oscillators Using Nonlinear Inflatables (Wiley, Feb-25)
• A Wearable Soft Actuator for Directional Tactile Stimulation: Design and Testing (Wiley, Mar-25)
• 3D-Printed Electrohydrodynamic Pump and Development of Anti-Swelling Organohydrogel for Soft Robotics (Wiley, Jan-25)

Sensing, Flexible Electronic & Skins

• A Variable Sensing Range Electrical Impedance Tomography Sensor for Robot Electric Skins (IEEE RA-L, Jan-25)
• GelLight: Illumination Design, Modeling, and Optimization for Camera-Based Tactile Sensor (Adv Int Sys, Feb-25)
• GelBelt: A Vision-Based Tactile Sensor for Continuous Sensing of Large Surfaces (IEEE RA-L, Jan-25)
• A Variable Sensing Range Electrical Impedance Tomography Sensor for Robot Electric Skins (IEEE RA-L, Jan-25)
• Model-Based Capacitive Touch Sensing in Soft Robotics: Achieving Robust Tactile Interactions for Artistic Applications (IEEE RA-L, Feb-25)
• Investigation on Substrate Material for a Sensitive Flexible Piezoresistive Pressure Sensor (IEEE Sensors, Feb-25)
• A Low Cost Multi Degree of Freedom Capacitive Soft Sensor (IEEE RA-L, Feb-25)
• A High-Performance Directional Strain Sensor Using Kirigami and Corrugated Structures for Real-Time Knee Joint Movement Detection (IEEE Sensors, Feb-25)
• SoftTex: Soft Robotic Arm With Learning-Based Textile Proprioception (IEEE RA-L, Feb-25)
• Sensorization of Soft Robot Joints for Accurate and Durable Bending Measurement (IEEE Sensors, Mar-25)
• Locomotion Joint Angle and Moment Estimation With Soft Wearable Sensors for Personalized Exosuit Control (IEEE T-NSRE, Mar-25)
• Expanded quasi-static models to predict the performance of robotic skins on soft cylinders (Sage, Jan-25)
• Tailorable biosensors for real-time monitoring of stress distribution in soft biomaterials and living tissues (Nature, Jan-25)
• Advancing Soft Robot Proprioception Through 6D Strain Sensors Embedding (SoRo Journal, Jan-25)
• An Untethered Soft Snail Robot Steers with a Single Motor (SoRo Journal, Feb-25)
• A Holistic Indirect Contact Identification Method for Soft Robot Proprioception (SoRo Journal, Feb-25)
• Soft Robots Proprioception Through Stretchable Laser-Induced Graphene Strain Sensors (Wiley, Mar-25)

Fabrication Techniques & Hardware Toolkits

• Development of a Photo-Curing 3D Printer for Fabrication of Small-Scale Soft Robots With Programming Spatial Magnetization (IEEE RA-L, Feb-25)
• Printing Stretchable Electronics With Fused Filament Fabrication (IEEE J-Flex , Feb-25)
• Automated On-Demand Manufacturing: Laser Fabrication Concept for Soft Mechanisms (IEEE Access, Feb-25)
• Enhancing 3-D-Printed Piezoresistive Sensors: An Investigation Into Process Parameters, Sensor Geometries and Materials Selection (IEEE Sensors, Mar-25)
• Semi-Solid Liquid Metal/Ni Ink Printing-Based Flexible Thin-Film Sensors (IEEE TIM, Mar-25)
• Bio-inspired 3D printing approach for bonding soft and rigid materials through underextrusion (Nature, Feb-25)
• A framework for soft mechanism driven robots (Nature, Feb-25)

Locomotion, Swimming & Flying

• Modular Self-Reconfigurable Continuum Robot for General Purpose Loco-Manipulation (IEEE RA-L, Jan-25)
• Joint-Repositionable Inner-Wireless Planar Snake Robot (IEEE RA-L, Mar-25)
• Inchworm-Inspired Bipedal Crawling Soft Robot With Forward and Backward Locomotion for Confined Spaces (IEEE RA-L, Mar-25)
• Efficient Trotting of Soft Robotic Quadrupeds (IEEE T-ASE, Mar-25)
• Miniature deep-sea morphable robot with multimodal locomotion (Science, Mar-25)
• Highly agile flat swimming robot (Science, Feb-25)
• Small-Scale Soft Terrestrial Robot with Electrically Driven Multi-Modal Locomotion Capability (SoRo Journal, Jan-25)

Manipulation & Grasping

• Integrating Software-Less Reflex Mechanisms Into Soft Robots and a Versatile Gripper: A New Bistable Method (IEEE RAM, Feb-25)
• Soft robotic hand with tactile palm-finger coordination (Nature, Mar-25)
• Bistable Soft Gripper With Tension Net Applied to UAV (IEEE RA-L, Jan-25)
• A High-Fidelity Simulation Framework for Grasping Stability Analysis in Human Casualty Manipulation (IEEE T-MRB, Jan-25)
• Soft Gripper With Movable Variable Stiffness Mechanism and Embedded Soft Sensors for Adaptive Grasping Strategies (IEEE RA-L, Jan-25)
• CPG-Based Manipulation With Multi-Module Origami Robot Surface (IEEE RA-L, Mar-25)
• Combining and Decoupling Rigid and Soft Grippers to Enhance Robotic Manipulation (SoRo Journal, Mar-25)
• Origami-Based Flexible Robotic Grippers via Hard-Soft Coupled Multimaterial 3D Printing (SoRo Journal, Mar-25)
• Exo-Glove Poly III: Grasp Assistance by Modulating Thumb and Finger Motion Sequence with a Single Actuator (SoRo Journal, Mar-25)

Biomimicry & Bioinspiration

• Biomimetic Underwater Soft Snake Robot: Self-Motion Sensing and Online Gait Control (IEEE T-RO, Jan-25)
• Soft Robotic Fish Actuated by Bionic Muscle With Embedded Sensing for Self-Adaptive Multiple Modes Swimming (IEEE T-RO, Jan-25)
• Bio-Inspired Fast-Moving and Steerable Insect-Scale Soft Aquatic Surface Robot (IEEE T-RO, Feb-25)
• Modeling and Neural-Network-Based Tail Oscillation Control of a Fish-Like Bionic Soft Actuation Mechanism (IEEE RA-L, Mar-25)
• Parthenocissus-inspired soft climbing robots (Science, Mar-25)
• Adaptive and Robust Switchable Adhesion System: Bio-Inspired Synergistic Integration from Octopuses and Geckos (SoRo Journal, Feb-25)
• Leaf Vein-Inspired Programmable Superstructure Liquid Metal Photothermal Actuator for Soft Robots (Wiley, Feb-25)
• Leech-Inspired Amphibious Soft Robot Driven by High-Voltage Triboelectricity (Wiley, Jan-25)
• Bioinspired Smart Triboelectric Soft Pneumatic Actuator-Enabled Hand Rehabilitation Robot (Wiley, Jan-25)

Soft Robot Applications

• Wearable multi-sensory haptic devices (Nature, Mar-25)
• Field Insights for Portable Vine Robots in Urban Search and Rescue (IEEE SSRR, Jan-25)
• Design and Analysis of a Parallel Elastic Shoulder Joint for Humanoid Robotics Application (IEEE Access, Jan-25)
• A Novel Deployable and Stiffness-Variable Homecare Hyper-Redundant Robot Based on the Origami Mechanism (IEEE T-MRB, Jan-25)
• Preliminary Evaluation of a Soft Wearable Robot for Shoulder Movement Assistance (IEEE T-MRB, Jan-25)
• Funabot-Sleeve: A Wearable Device Employing McKibben Artificial Muscles for Haptic Sensation in the Forearm (IEEE RA-L, Jan-25)
• Magnetorheological-Elastomer-Based and Hydraulically Steerable Actuator for Micro Guidewire and Catheter (IEEE T-MRB, Jan-25)
• A Multi-Layered Quantitative Assessment Approach for Hand Spasticity Based on a Cable-Actuated Hand Exoskeleton (IEEE RA-L, Jan-25)
• The Design and Development of an Atraumatic Soft Robotic Surgical Retractor (IEEE Access, Jan-25)
• A Hybrid Variable-Stiffness Soft Back Support Device (IEEE RA-L, Feb-25)
• Automated Seeding in Hydroponic Greenhouse With a Dual-Arm Robotic System (IEEE Access, Feb-25)
• RS-ModCubes: Self-Reconfigurable, Scalable, Modular Cubic Robots for Underwater Operations (IEEE RA-L, Feb-25)
• System Design of a Soft Underwater Exosuit to Reduce Metabolic Cost Across Multiple Aquatic Movements During Diving (IEEE T-RO, Feb-25)
• A Real-Time, Semi-Autonomous Navigation Platform for Soft Robotic Bronchoscopy (IEEE RA-L, Mar-25)
• Modeling, Embedded Control, and Design of Soft Robots Using a Learned Condensed FEM Model (IEEE T-RO, Mar-25)
• Design, Modeling, and Control of a Soft Abdominal Compression Robot for Respiratory Assistance (SoRo Journal, Mar-25)
• Bio-Inspired, Miniaturized Magnetic Heart Valve System for Superior Performance Cardiovascular Simulator (Wiley, Feb-25)
• A Soft Robotic Textile-Actuated Anthropomorphic Artificial Shoulder Mechanism (Wiley, Feb-25)
• A Soft-Tip Hydraulically Steerable Catheter for Enhanced Flexibility and Safety in Vascular Interventions (Wiley, Jun-25)
• A Robotic Prosthetic Hand for Computer Mouse Operations (Wiley, Mar-25)

Theory: Learning, Modeling, & Control

• Adaptive Neural Control with Online Learning and Short-Term Memory for Adaptive Soft Crawling Robots (IEEE RA-L, Mar-25)
• A Deep Reinforcement Learning Method for Collision Avoidance with Dense Speed-Constrained Multi-UAV (IEEE RA-L, Jan-25)
• Empirically Compensated Setpoint Tracking for Spherical Robots With Pressurized Soft-Shells (IEEE RA-L, Jan-25)
• Controlling Pneumatic Bending Actuator With Gain-Scheduled Feedforward and Physical Reservoir Computing State Estimation (IEEE RA-L, Jan-25)
• An Automatic Navigation Framework for Magnetic Fish-Like Millirobot in Uncertain Dynamic Environments (IEEE RA-L, Jan-25)
• A Non-Linear Model Predictive Task-Space Controller Satisfying Shape Constraints for Tendon-Driven Continuum Robots (IEEE RA-L, Jan-25)
• Repetitive Control of Robotic Joint With Variable Impedance Utilizing Agonist-Antagonist Muscle Pair Structure Based on Virtual Trajectories (IEEE Access, Jan-25)
• Terradynamics of Monolithic Soft Robot Driven by Vibration Mechanism (IEEE T-RO, Jan-25)
• PneuSIC Box: Pneumatic Sequential and Independent Control Box for Scalable Demultiplexing (IEEE RA-L, Jan-25)
• State Estimation and Environment Recognition for Articulated Structures via Proximity Sensors Distributed Over the Whole Body (IEEE RA-L, Feb-25)
• Efficient Real2Sim2Real of Continuum Robots Using Deep Reinforcement Learning With Koopman Operator (IEEE T-IE, Feb-25)
• Integrating Contact-Aware CPG System for Learning-Based Soft Snake Robot Locomotion Controllers (IEEE T-RO, Feb-25)
• Model-Based Robust Position Control of an Underactuated Dielectric Elastomer Soft Robot (IEEE T-RO, Feb-25)
• DeRi-IGP: Learning to Manipulate Rigid Objects Using Deformable Linear Objects via Iterative Grasp-Pull (IEEE RA-L, Feb-25)
• An Adaptive Nonsingular Fast Terminal Sliding Mode Control Method With Time-Delay Estimation for Pneumatic Soft Actuator Without Specific Model (IEEE T-IE, Feb-25)
• Adaptive Neural Control with Online Learning and Short-Term Memory for Adaptive Soft Crawling Robots (IEEE RA-L, Mar-25)
• Closed-Loop Cooperative Manipulation of Deformable Tissue via Visual Feedback Using Multiple Continuum Surgical Manipulators (IEEE RA-L, Mar-25)
• Tensegrity Robot Proprioceptive State Estimation With Geometric Constraints (IEEE RA-L, Mar-25)
• Unified Framework of Gradient Computation for Hybrid-Link System and Its Dynamical Simulation by Implicit Method (IEEE RA-L, Mar-25)
• HCR: Haptic Continuum Robot for Multi-Modal Cutaneous Feedback (IEEE RA-L, Mar-25)
• Dynamic Control of Multimodal Motion for Bistable Soft Millirobots in Complex Environments (IEEE T-RO, Mar-25)
• Environment-Centric Learning Approach for Gait Synthesis in Terrestrial Soft Robots (IEEE T-RO, Mar-25)
• Human-Inspired Active Compliant and Passive Shared Control Framework for Robotic Contact-Rich Tasks in Medical Applications (IEEE T-RO, Mar-25)
• TacSL: A Library for Visuotactile Sensor Simulation and Learning (IEEE T-RO, Mar-25)
• Unsupervised Sim-to-Real Adaptation of Soft Robot Proprioception Using a Dual Cross-Modal Autoencoder (SoRo Journal, Jan-25)
• Biohybrid Behavior-Based Navigation with Obstacle Avoidance for Cyborg Insect in Complex Environment (SoRo Journal, Feb-25)
• Bioinspired Tactile Object Identification Leveraging Deep Learning and Soft Body Compliance (Wiley, Jan-25)

Embodied Intelligence & Morphological Computation

• Robotic locomotion through active and passive morphological adaptation in extreme outdoor environments (Science, Feb-25)

Featured News Articles

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