Announcements

• IROS Workshops:
  • Developing Standard Testing and Reporting Guidelines for Soft Robotics (01 Oct 2023)
  • No More Slow Flexible Robots (01 Oct 2023)
  • Tensegrity Robotics Workshop (05 Oct 2023)
• Featured Research Topics:
  • Towards an Accessible Soft Robotics Toolbox and Validation Test Rig (Frontiers)

Featured Videos

• Assisted damage closure and healing in soft robots by shape memory alloy wires (Nature, May 2023)
• Fast Untethered Soft Robotic Crawler with Elastic Instability (IEEE Spectrum, May 2023) 
• Flipbot: Learning Continuous Paper-Flipping Via Coarse-to-Fin Exteroceptive-Proprioceptive Exploration (IEEE Spectrum, May 2023)
• SOPHIE: SOft and Flexible Aerial Vehicle for PHysical Interaction with the Environment (IEEE Spectrum, May 2023)
• Soft-Bodied Aerial Robot for Collision Resilience and Contact-Reactive Perching (ngubern YouTube, Apr 23)
• Soft Rotary Electromagnetic Motor (Sensing Technologies Laboratory Youtube, Apr 23)
• DexTeR: Dexterous ContinuumTensegrity Manipulator (Agile Robotics Lab at University of Alabama Youtube, Apr 23)

Featured Books

• Untethered Small-Scale Robots for Biomedical Applications (Elsevier Pub., Jun 23)

Featured Articles

Views and Reviews

• Biological Robots: Perspectives on an Emerging Interdisciplinary Field (SoRo J, Apr 2023)
• Soft Robots Modeling: A Structured Overview (IEEE T-RO, Jun 23)
• A Perspective on Miniature Soft Robotics: Actuation, Fabrication, Control, and Applications (Adv Intel Sys, Apr 23)
• Special issue: bioinspired fluid-structure interaction (Bioinsp Biomim, Apr 23)
• Soft Actuators and Robots Enabled by Additive Manufacturing (Annual Rev Control Robot Auto Sys, May 23)
• An Overview of Soft Robotics (Annual Rev Control Robot Auto Sys, May 23)
• On the Timescales of Embodied Intelligence for Autonomous Adaptive Systems  (Annual Rev Control Robot Auto Sys, May 23)

New Materials, Actuators & Stiffening Methods

• Robotic Modules for a Continuum Manipulator With Variable Stiffness Joints (IEEE RA-L, 30 Jun 2023)
• Electroadhesion zipping with soft grippers on curved objects (Extreme Machin Lett, Jun 23)
• Assisted damage closure and healing in soft robots by shape memory alloy wires (Sci Rep, May 23)
• Topology Design and Optimization of Modular Soft Robots Capable of Homogenous and Heterogenous Reconfiguration (ASME J Comput Nonlin Dyn, Apr 23)
• Origami-based integration of robots that sense, decide, and respond (Nature, Apr 2023)
• StarBlocks: Soft Actuated Self-Connecting Blocks for Building Deformable Lattice Structures (IEEE RA-L, 19 Jun 2023)
• Optimal Design of Flexible-Link Mechanisms With Desired Load-Displacement Profiles (IEEE RA-L, 8 Jun 2023)
• Hapstick: A Soft Flexible Joystick for Stiffness Rendering via Fiber Jamming (IEEE RA-L, 5 Jun 2023)
• Soft Robotic Arm With Extensible Stiffening Layer (IEEE RA-L, 1 May 2023)
• A Magnetically-Actuated Coiling Soft Robot With Variable Stiffness (IEEE RA-L, 24 Apr 2023)
• MateJam: Multi-Material Teeth-Clutching Layer Jamming Actuation for Soft Haptic Glove (IEEE ToH, 20 Jun 2023)
• A Novel Variable Stiffness and Tunable Bending Shape Soft Robotic Finger Based on Thermoresponsive Polymers (IEEE TIM, 26 May 2023)
• A shape memory alloy spring driven soft crawling robot with feet of constant curvature (Sage, Jun 2023)
• Deployment of an electrocorticography system with a soft robotic actuator (Science, May 2023)
• Sunlight-powered self-excited oscillators for sustainable autonomous soft robotics (Science, Apr 2023)
• Soft and lightweight fabric enables powerful and high-range pneumatic actuation (Science, Apr 2023)
• A compact DEA-based soft peristaltic pump for power and control of fluidic robots (Science, Jun 2023)
• Pangolin-inspired untethered magnetic robot for on-demand biomedical heating applications (Nature, Jun 2023)
• Active reconfiguration of multistable metamaterials for linear locomotion (Physical Review, Jun 2023)
• Chemically Driven Oscillating Soft Pneumatic Actuation (SoRo J, Jun 2023)
• Hygromachines: Humidity-Powered Wheels, Seesaws, and Vehicles (SoRo J, Jun 2023)
• Selaginella lepidophylla-Inspired Multi-Stimulus Cooperative Control MXene-Based Flexible Actuator (SoRo J, Jun 2023)
• Sequential Multimodal Morphing of Single-Input Pneu-Nets (SoRo J, Jun 2023)
• Magnetic Liquid Metal Droplet Robot with Multifunction and High Output Force in Milli-Newton (SoRo J, Jun 2023)
• Tuning Stiffness with Granular Chain Structures for Versatile Soft Robots (SoRo J, Jun 2023)
• Electrostatic Adhesion Clutch with Superhigh Force Density Achieved by MXene-Poly(Vinylidene Fluoride–Trifluoroethylene–Chlorotrifluoroethylene) Composites (SoRo J, Jun 2023)
• Magnetic Soft Helical Manipulators with Local Dipole Interactions for Flexibility and Forces (SoRo J, Jun 2023)
• Nonlinear Multimaterial Architecture for Greater Soft Material’s Toughness and Delaying Damage Propagation (SoRo J, May 2023)
• Design, Modeling, and Application of Reinforced-Airbag-Based Pneumatic Actuators with High Load and Cellular Rearrangement (SoRo J, May 2023)
• Design and Development of a Continuum Robot with Switching-Stiffness (SoRo J, May 2023)
• Development of an Anthropomorphic Soft Manipulator with Rigid-Flexible Coupling for Underwater Adaptive Grasping (SoRo J, May 2023)
• Multifunctional Soft Stackable Robots by Netting–Rolling–Splicing Pneumatic Artificial Muscles (SoRo J, Apr 2023)
• Reconfigurable Soft Pneumatic Actuators Using Extensible Fabric-Based Skins (SoRo J, Apr 2023)
• Recent Advances in Electrically Driven Soft Actuators across Dimensional Scales from 2D to 3D (Adv Intel Sys, Jun 22)
• Biodegradable, Sustainable Hydrogel Actuators with Shape and Stiffness Morphing Capabilities via Embedded 3D Printing (Adv Func Mater, Jun 23)
• Electrodeposited Superhydrophilic-Superhydrophobic Composites for Untethered Multi-Stimuli-Responsive Soft Millirobots (Adv Sci, Jun 23)
• Biodegradable Electrohydraulic Soft Actuators (Adv Intel Sys, Jun 23)
• Reconfigurable Liquid-Bodied Miniature Machines: Magnetic Control and Microrobotic Applications (Adv Intel Sys, May 23)
• Nonlinear Inflatable Actuators for Distributed Control in Soft Robots (Adv Mater, May 23)
• Shape Memory Soft Robotics with Yield Stress Fluids (Adv Intel Sys, May 23)
• Stimuli-Responsive Peptide Self-Assembly to Construct Hydrogels with Actuation and Shape Memory Behaviors (Adv Func Mater, May 23)
• Thin-Film-Shaped Flexible Actuators (Adv Intel Sys, Apr 23)
• Growing Structure Based on Viscous Actuation of Constrained Multistable Elements (Adv Mater Tech, Apr 23)
• 3D Knitting for Pneumatic Soft Robotics (Adv Func Mater, Apr 23)
• Reconfigurable Innervation of Modular Soft Machines via Soft, Sticky, and Instant Electronic Adhesive Interlocking (Adv Intel Sys, Apr 23)
• Fully Recyclable, Healable, Soft, and Stretchable Dynamic Polymers for Magnetic Soft Robots (Adv Func Mater, Apr 23)
• Pneu-HTP based extrusion actuation in bio-inspired soft joint (Bioinsp Biomim, Jun 23)
• Kinematic modelling and experimental testing of a particle-jamming soft robot based on a DEM-FEM coupling method (Bioinsp Biomim, Jun 23)
• Contractile and torsional dual-responsive artificial muscles actuated by electric heating and water droplet (Smart Mater Struct, Jun 23)
• Soft Multimaterial Magnetic Fibers and Textiles (Adv Mater, Apr 23)

Sensing, Flexible Electronic & Skins

• Ionic Liquid-Optoelectronics-Based Multimodal Soft Sensor (IEEE Sensors, 29 Jun 2023)
• Development of an Active Physical Interface for Physical Human-Robot Interaction: Investigation of Soft Pneumatic Actuator Straps for Automatic Enclosure System (Actuators, May 23)
• Dynamic Field-Programmable Logic-Driven Soft Exosuit (IEEE Sensors, 15 May 2023)
• Optical Soft Tactile Sensor Algorithm Based on Multiscale ResNet (IEEE Sensors, 15 May 2023)
• Coupling Field Simulation of Soft Capacitive Sensors Toward Soft Robot Perception (IEEE Sensors, 15 May 2023)
• 3-D Printed Microfluidic Coils With Liquid Metal for Wireless Motion Sensing (IEEE Sensors-L, 29 May 2023)
• Silicone/Carbon Black-Filled Elastomer-Based Self-Healing Strain Sensor (IEEE Sensors-L, 17 May 2023)
• Permeable Thermistor Temperature Sensors Based on Porous Melamine Foam (IEEE Sensors-L, 11 May 2023)
• Three-Dimensional-Printed Sensing Samples Embedding Fiber Bragg Gratings: Metrological Evaluation of Different Sample Materials and Fiber Coatings (IEEE TIM, 5 May 2023)
• EM-Skin: An Artificial Robotic Skin Using Magnetic Inductance Tomography (IEEE TIM, 11 May 2023)
• Liquid Metal-Based Flexible Sensor for Perception of Force Magnitude, Location, and Contacting Orientation (IEEE TIM, 26 Apr 2023)
• In situ sensing physiological properties of biological tissues using wireless miniature soft robots (Science, Jun 2023)
• Autonomous alignment and healing in multilayer soft electronics using immiscible dynamic polymers (Science, Jun 2023)
• Neuromorphic sensorimotor loop embodied by monolithically integrated, low-voltage, soft e-skin (Science, May 2023)
• Lab2Field transfer of a robotic raspberry harvester enabled by a soft sensorized physical twin (Nature, Jun 2023)
• Multi-parameter e-skin based on biomimetic mechanoreceptors and stress field sensing (Nature, Apr 2023)
• An Ionic Liquid-Based Stretchable Sensor for Measuring Normal and Shear Force (SoRo J, May 2023)
• A Passive Wireless Sensing Method Based on Magnetic Resonance Coupling and Bulk Acoustic Wave Device (IEEE Sens, Apr 23)
• Printed Bilayer Liquid Metal Soft Sensors for Strain and Tactile Perception in Soft Robotics (Adv Mater Tech, Jun 23)
• An Artificial Intelligence-Motivated Skin-Like Optical Fiber Tactile Sensor (Adv Intel Sys, Apr 23)

Fabrication Techniques & Hardware Toolkits

• Desktop fabrication of monolithic soft robotic devices with embedded fluidic control circuits (Science, Jun 2023)

Locomotion, Swimming & Flying

• Soft Steps: Exploring Quadrupedal Locomotion With Modular Soft Robots (IEEE Access, 29 Jun 2023)
• Morphology-Changeable Soft Pads Facilitate Locomotion in Wet Conditions (IEEE RA-L, 12 Apr 2023)
• Autonomous, untethered gait-like synchronization of lobed loops made from liquid crystal elastomer fibers via spontaneous snap-through (Science, May 2023)
• Rolling of soft microbots with tunable traction (Science, Apr 2023)
• Soft climbing robot with magnetic feet for multimodal locomotion (Nature, May 2023)
• Maneuverable and Efficient Locomotion of a Myriapod Robot with Variable Body-Axis Flexibility via Instability and Bifurcation (SoRo J, May 2023)
• A Soft-Bodied Aerial Robot for Collision Resilience and Contact-Reactive Perching (SoRo J, Apr 2023)
• A Multipole Magnetoactive Elastomer for Vibration-Driven Locomotion (SoRo J, Apr 2023)
• Kirigami Makes a Soft Magnetic Sheet Crawl (Adv Sci, Jun 23)
• Spiral-Shape Fast-Moving Soft Robots (Adv Func Mater, May 23)
• Recent Development of Jumping Motions Based on Soft Actuators (Adv Func Mater, May 23)
• Amphibious Miniature Soft Jumping Robot with On-Demand In-Flight Maneuver (Adv Sci, Apr 23)
• A Highly Robust Amphibious Soft Robot with Imperceptibility Based on a Water-Stable and Self-Healing Ionic Conductor (Adv Mater, Apr 23)
• Origami-inspired soft-rigid hybrid contraction actuator and its application in pipe-crawling robot (Smart Mater Struct, May 23)

Manipulation & Grasping

• Jamming Gripper-Inspired Soft Jig for Perceptive Parts Fixing (IEEE Access, 23 Jun 2023)
• Non-Contact Tactile Perception for Hybrid-Active Gripper (IEEE RA-L, Apr 2023)
• TRIGGER: A Lightweight Universal Jamming Gripper for Aerial Grasping (IEEE Access, 31 May 2023)
• Wiring-Claw Gripper for Soft-Stable Picking up Multiple Objects (IEEE RA-L, 22 May 2023)
• A Fault-Tolerant Soft Swallowing Robot Capable of Grasping Delicate Structures Underwater (IEEE RA-L, 24 Apr 2023)
• A Palm-Shape Variable-Stiffness Gripper Based on 3D-Printed Fabric Jamming (IEEE RA-L, 21 Apr 2023)
• A Soft Hand Exoskeleton With a Novel Tendon Layout to Improve Stable Wearing in Grasping Assistance (IEEE ToH, 20 Jun 2023)
• Electrochemical grippers based on the tuning of surface forces for applications in micro- and nanorobotics (Nature, May 2023)
• JamTac: A Tactile Jamming Gripper for Searching and Grasping in Low-Visibility Environments (SoRo J, Jun 2023)
• A Passively Conforming Soft Robotic Gripper with Three-Dimensional Negative Bending Stiffness Fingers (SoRo J, Jun 2023)
• A Preprogrammable Continuum Robot Inspired by Elephant Trunk for Dexterous Manipulation (SoRo J, Jun 2023)
• A Variable Stiffness Gripper with Reconfigurable Finger Joint for Versatile Manipulations (SoRo J, Apr 2023)
• Improvement of Precision Grasping Performance by Interaction Between Soft Finger Pulp and Hard Nail (SoRo J, Apr 2023)
• Liquid Manipulator with Printed Electrode Patterns for Soft Robotic Systems (Adv Mater Tech, Apr 23)

Biomimicry & Bioinspiration

• An Anthropomorphic Robotic Hand With a Soft-Rigid Hybrid Structure and Positive- Negative Pneumatic Actuation (IEEE RA-L, 12 Jun 2023)
• Design and Implementation of a Miniature Jellyfish-Inspired Robot (IEEE RA-L, Apr 2023)
• DeforMoBot: A Bio-Inspired Deformable Mobile Robot for Navigation Among Obstacles (IEEE RA-L, 15 May 2023)
• Bio-Inspired Deformable Propeller Concept for Smooth Human-UAV Interaction and Efficient Thrust Generation (IEEE RA-L, 27 Apr 2023)
• “RobOstrich” Manipulator: A Novel Mechanical Design and Control Based on the Anatomy and Behavior of an Ostrich Neck (IEEE RA-L, 13 Apr 2023)
• Development of an Earthworm-Type Electrical Wire Installation Assistance Robot Using Artificial Muscles (IEEE RA-L, 12 Apr 2023)
• Biomimetic thermoresponsive superstructures by colloidal soft-and-hard co-assembly (Science, Jun 2023)
• Bioinspired helical-artificial fibrous muscle structured tubular soft actuators (Science, Jun 2023)
• A versatile jellyfish-like robotic platform for effective underwater propulsion and manipulation (Science, Apr 2023)
• Bioinspired soft robots based on organic polymer-crystal hybrid materials with response to temperature and humidity (Nature, Apr 2023)
• Bio-Mimic, Fast-Moving, and Flippable Soft Piezoelectric Robots (Adv Sci, May 23)
• Biomimetic Liquid Metal Mechatronic Devices (Adv Func Mater, May 23)
• Bioinspired Synergy Strategies Empower Small-Scale Robots with Higher Performance (Adv Intel Sys, Apr 23)
• A vacuum-actuated soft robot inspired by Drosophila larvae to study kinetics of crawling behaviour (PLOS ONE, Apr 23)
• A worm-inspired robot based on origami structures driven by the magnetic field (Bioinsp Biomim, May 23)
• 3D-printed hierarchical arrangements of actuators mimicking biological muscular architectures (Bioinsp Biomim, Jun 23)

Soft Robot Applications

• Posture Estimation by Clustering Pressure Information and Control Implementation for Pneumatically Driven Gait-Assistive Robot (IEEE Access, 13 Apr 2023)
• A Peristaltic Soft, Wearable Robot for Compression Therapy and Massage (IEEE RA-L, 26 Jun 2023)
• TacMMs: Tactile Mobile Manipulators for Warehouse Automation (IEEE RA-L, 29 Jun 2023)
• Design, Modeling and Experiments of a Variable Stiffness Soft Robotic Glove for Stroke Patients With Clenched Fist Deformity (IEEE RA-L, 2 Jun 2023)
• Toward Continuum Robot Tentacles for Lung Interventions: Exploring Folding Support Disks (IEEE RA-L, 28 Apr 2023)
• Compact Waist Rehabilitation Robot Inspired by McKenzie Therapy: Design, Analysis and Validation (IEEE RA-L, 18 Apr 2023)
• A Human Lower Limb Mechanical Phantom for the Testing of Knee Exoskeletons (IEEE TNSRE, 1 Jun 2023)
• Multi-Terrains Assistive Force Parameter Optimization Method for Soft Exoskeleton (IEEE TNSRE, 19 Apr 2023)
• Robotic endoscope with double-balloon and double-bend tube for colonoscopy (Nature, Jun 2023)
• Lovewear: Haptic Clothing that Allows Intimate Exploration for Movement-Impaired People (MIT Press, Apr 2023)
• A Hybrid Anchoring Technology Composed of Reinforced Flexible Shells for a Knee Unloading Exosuit (SoRo J, May 2023)
• Bio-SHARPE: Bioinspired Soft and High Aspect Ratio Pumping Element for Robotic and Medical Applications (SoRo J, May 2023)
• Tunable, Textile-Based Joint Impedance Module for Soft Robotic Applications (SoRo J, Apr 2023)

Theory: Learning, Modeling, & Control

• Modeling of a Soft Robotic Tongue Driven by Compressed Air (IEEE Access, 23 Jun 2023)
• Design and Modeling of Fabric-Shelled Pneumatic Bending Soft Actuators (IEEE RA-L, Apr 2023)
• Neurodynamics Adaptive Reward and Action for Hand-to-Eye Calibration With Deep Reinforcement Learning (IEEE Access, 22 Jun 2023)
• Ablation Study of a Dynamic Model for a 3D-Printed Pneumatic Soft Robotic Arm (IEEE Access, 21 Apr 2023)
• Field Model Identification and Control of a Mobile Electromagnet for Remote Actuation of Soft Robots (IEEE RA-L, 5 Jun 2023)
• Independent and Hybrid Magnetic Manipulation for Full Body Controlled Soft Continuum Robots (IEEE RA-L, 8 Jun 2023)
• Closed Loop Static Control of Multi-Magnet Soft Continuum Robots (IEEE RA-L, 24 May 2023)
• A Framework for Simulation of Magnetic Soft Robots Using the Material Point Method (IEEE RA-L, 28 Apr 2023)
• Modeling and Analysis of Tendon-Driven Continuum Robots for Rod-Based Locking (IEEE RA-L, 14 Apr 2023)
• Residual Reinforcement Learning for Motion Control of a Bionic Exploration Robot “RoboDact” (IEEE TIM, 15 Jun 2023)
• Development and Evaluation of a Friction Model for Tendon-Driven Soft Robotic Devices (IEEE TMRB, 24 May 2023)
• Cosserat Rod Modeling of Continuum Robots from Newtonian and Lagrangian Perspectives (IEEE TRo, 6 Jun 2023)
• A Novel Approach for Optimization of Soft Material Constitutive Model Parameters Based on a Genetic Algorithm and Drucker’s Stability Criterion (SoRo J, Jun 2023)
• Human-Powered Master Controllers for Reconfigurable Fluidic Soft Robots (SoRo J, May 2023)
• Prescribing Cartesian Stiffness of Soft Robots by Co-Optimization of Shape and Segment-Level Stiffness (SoRo J, May 2023)
• Kinetostatic Modeling of Soft Robots: Energy-Minimization Approach and 99-Line MATLAB Implementation (SoRo J, Apr 2023)
• Adaptive neural controller with predefined boundary constraints for 3D printed cable-driven soft actuators (Smart Mater Struct, May 23)
• Koopman Operator-based Extended Kalman Filter for Cosserat Rod Wrench Estimation (IEEE SIMR, May 23)

Embodied Intelligence & Morphological Computation

• A Soft Reconfigurable Circulator Enabled by Magnetic Liquid Metal Droplet for Multifunctional Control of Soft Robots (Adv Sci, Jun 23)

Featured News Articles

• This Soft Robot Unfurls Inside the Skull (IEEE Spectrum, May 2023)
• Ostrich-Inspired Robot Gives Its Neck a Stretch RobOstrich mimicks the musculoskeletal structure of ostriches for high flexibility (IEEE Spectrum, Apr 23)
• This Soft Robot Unfurls Inside the Skull New device could improve brain-computer interfaces (IEEE Spectrum, May 23)
• 7 Soft Designs that are Reimagining Robotics (ASME, Apr 23)
• Inspired by an Octopus, Ringbots Flip and Crawl (ASME, May 23)
• Sensor-filled soft robot implant tested for brain monitoring (MedicalDesign, May 23)